Dougrae's Rain
by Noxbait
Summary: A friendly race offering to share Tollan-level technology. The start of something wonderful, or the end of SG1? Team story set S5 post Red Sky. Now Complete!
1. Chapter 1

**Dougrae's Rain**

From the soundly sleeping forest, a forsaken path meandered forlornly down a hill toward a castle whose main door creaked back and forth in the rain-lashed wind. On either side of the door, moss and mold had worked their insidious ways between the cracks in the walls, leaving the stones loose and rotted. High above those moldering walls perched several towers and the jutting stone remains of another tower, collapsed long ago from a cause unbeknownst to modern man. As the heavy rain and deafening roar of thunder pulsated across the mountains far beyond the towers, the castle raised a moan from deep within the cavernous halls; agonizing over its current dilapidated state. Every stone pockmarked from centuries of withstanding battering storms, every window empty, every glory of the past had now vanished. The castle stood alone and utterly forgotten against the backdrop of the mountains, lit now by the jagged claws of lightning…then enshrouded in the inky cloak of night.

* * *

><p>There was a cheerful sun starting to set and a slight crisp fall chill in the evening air. SG1 had returned to P39-8277 for the grand tour of the capital city and a continuation of diplomatic discussions. The people of Kamyen Obyet appeared technologically on the level of the Tollan but, happily, seemed far more willing to share. After brief chats during their initial visit earlier in the morning, SG1 had returned to the SGC with encouraging news of a potential ally and trading partner. Hammond had agreed to the Kamyen Obyet request of a second visit to further discuss possible trade opportunities.<p>

Jack smiled at the man who was leading them on a tour of the city. The guy, Tormic something-or-other, was eager and seemed genuinely likeable…at least as far as Jack could tell. According to Daniel, their language was similar to Russian. Which mean that the conversation was basically between Tormic and Daniel. Once in a while, Daniel would throw them a bone about what was being said, but most of the time he was too busy asking and answering questions. Jack really didn't care that much at present. He'd had most of his questions answered earlier when Daniel had spent the entire morning translating back and forth during the initial negotiations. Right now, Jack was content to be doing a careful analysis of the town and technology. He knew that Daniel would tell him immediately if there was something requiring his attention.

Sam was eagerly chatting in Jack's ear about this or that piece of equipment that had caught her eye, while Teal'c's watchful and practiced gaze searched for signs of threats. Glancing around as they turned another corner, Jack found himself puzzled by the odd mix of Renaissance Italian-style buildings along the river front, the homes and other buildings were actually carved into the rock cliff walls like Mesa Verde, and the citizens, all dressed in very modern suits and tailored dresses. Add to that the way the place reminded him of New Orleans, what with the beautiful riverfront walkway and towering bridges. He smiled inadvertently as he realized that these very oddities were likely what were so fascinating to Daniel. The unusual combination of at least three distinct cultures was intriguing even to _him._ Wishing there were some way to get a short version of Daniel's sure to be expert theory of the reasons for the unusual mix, Jack decided he probably didn't want to bother. Daniel just didn't have any idea of how to do _abridged_.

They had been on the planet for nearly 3 hours now and obviously had just reached something unusually fascinating and revered…or feared. Jack couldn't quite tell which it was…but Daniel was talking two miles a minute and had his finger up, so Jack guessed he was about to get an earful of _meaning of life_ information. The area they had just reached was cordoned off by a black rope and there were two uniformed men standing nearby.

"Sir, this looks a bit like…" Sam had started, but Jack shook his head.

"Carter, if you're gonna say it looks like that mirror…you're so not gonna make me happy."

Sam smiled, a bit uncertainly, "Well, sir, I _was_ going to say that…" she paused, looking quickly at Teal'c for support. He briefly inclined his head and she looked back to O'Neill, "but I won't."

Jack took off his cap and ran a hand through his hair. He knew she was going to say it, because he'd already reached the same conclusion. It did look an awful lot like the Quantum Mirror. Only much bigger.

_Much bigger, _Jack thought dismally as he looked up.

This object was about 15 feet tall by 10 feet wide. More of a huge garage door looking thing than that alternate reality mirror they'd found a few years back. Like the Quantum Mirror, though, this seemed to be formed right inside a huge, jagged edged rock. This one was actually part of the cliff face opposite the river front. Even so, this garage door had a rather mirror like sheen to it, shimmering a deep, almost blood red in the rays of the early evening sun. It was reflecting their images, so perhaps it really _wasn't_ an alternate reality mirror? Jack looked to the heavens imploringly.

No one was taking another step closer if it was….

"It's not an alternate reality mirror, Jack." Daniel was suddenly at his right side, smiling _way_ too knowingly for Jack's taste.

He shrugged his shoulder. "It looks nothing like that old thing."

"Uh huh." Daniel said, way too knowingly for Jack's taste.

Jack was certain he heard a carefully camouflaged snicker from somewhere in the general vicinity of his astrophysicist. A quick look over his shoulder revealed his astrophysicist had moved away slightly, leaving only a stoic, and somehow innocent-looking Jaffa in her place. Jack narrowed his eyes, but Teal'c only stared impassively at the object in front of them.

Jack turned minutely to glare back at Daniel, noting the smile was still there. "So what is it then?" he asked, deciding to ignore the lack of respect he seemed to be getting and focus on the situation at hand.

Daniel took a completely unnecessary step closer, but kept his hands well back from the thing, Jack noted with a very small amount of satisfaction. "Well, Tormic says it's some sort of a portal or transporter."

"Aha!" Jack exclaimed, pointing a finger at Daniel, "Portal or transporter? As in…to _another reality_?"

Daniel had the grace to look slightly admonished. Apparently, he'd been concentrating so hard on the fact that it _wasn't _a Quantum Mirror, that he missed the point that it very well _could _be a Quantum Mirror. Losing his smile, Daniel shrugged and added almost defensively, "Tormic says that no one has seen it activated in seven generations."

"That was when the people defeated the Goa'uld and drove them off the planet, right?" Sam interjected, coming up on Jack's left. The fact that the Kamyen Obyet had history of having defeated the Goa'uld and were still free from their rule was one of the reasons the team had been so eager to learn more.

Daniel nodded, "Exactly. Their records are apparently really sketchy because few people knew how to write back then."

"So what is it?" Jack prodded, nodding to the object.

"A portal or transporter." Daniel repeated, "Or…" his voice trailed off and he looked up at the shimmering portal or transporter or something, then back at Jack helplessly.

"Or?"

"Or…they really aren't sure, like I said." Daniel explained, "Apparently, after the Goa'uld left, someone else tried to…"

"Fill his golden shoes, stand in the gap, take the reins…"Jack interrupted.

Daniel wasn't fazed in the least and nodded, "Someone tried to seize the proverbial day."

"And?" Sam asked curiously, "Obviously they're free now. What happened?"

Daniel held up his finger again and he and Tormic began conversing again. Jack had almost forgotten about the man, he had just been standing by silently, a curious smile on his face. Daniel began rapidly translating, "Their records are vague, but it seems that whoever this guy was, he'd been involved with the building of the weapon and the battle against the Goa'uld." He paused as Tormic gestured and spoke again. Daniel nodded, "This guy, the people call him Boorya, which is actually a Russian word for storm. Remember their language has similarities with Russian? Kamyen Obyet actually is a corrupted version of the Russian for 'stone refuge.' Anyway, Boorya is closer to the original Russian. Interestingly, the word also could mean _tempest_ or _to crush_ in Slovak…"

"Daniel."

"Jack."

"Is it going to matter in the long run if the guy's name means something in Slovak?"

Daniel frowned, "It might. Names have a great deal of meaning, in case you hadn't noticed. It probably gives us some special insight into this person's character and…"

"He was a Goa'uld. That's all I need to know about his character, or lack thereof." Jack waved his hand. "Just switch out the tourist-interest track back to the '_what Jack needs to know right now to make a threat assessment track'._ Capisce?"

"Boorya built this portal here," Daniel glared at him, motioning absently, "and started forcibly taking people to…well, somewhere."

"_Somewhere_?" Jack asked.

Daniel shrugged, "No one ever returned so they really don't have any way of knowing. The people revolted against Boorya…"

"They'd had some practice." Jack smiled.

Daniel nodded, "They cornered him and he activated the portal and went through it. Unfortunately, he took whatever it was that activated the weapon. He never returned and the weapon and this device have never worked since. No one has been able to figure out how to activate it."

"Huh." Jack looked at the device again, "All very mysterious and all that…" He focused his gaze on Daniel who gazed back steadily for a moment before relenting reluctantly.

"Yes, mysterious but nothing that really concerns us." Sighing, he nodded and walked back over to Tormic.

"Nope." Jack nodded agreeably, wondering even as he did why Daniel had backed down so quickly…so easily…so _quietly_. That did not happen often. He was actually considering asking when he realized that Sam was walking over to Teal'c's side. The Jaffa had been analyzing the edges of the portal where a panel with what appeared to be control crystals was inlaid.

Sam called out, "Sir, there may still be some value in examining the technology. If it's on the level of the Tollan, there may be a lot to learn."

Jack sighed dramatically, but nodded. Glancing at Daniel and Tormic who were again talking eagerly about something, he realized they weren't moving from this spot for a while. He decided to join Sam and Teal'c. At least they were speaking English, even if it was scientific technobabble. Sam was studying the panel in fascination.

He nodded at Teal'c who gazed at him serenely. "So, what do you think about this little world, Teal'c?"

"It appears to be well ordered, peaceful and stable."

"That's what I was thinking. People seem pretty open and at ease."

"Something unusual in my experiences." Teal'c acknowledged, "It is very similar to Earth."

Jack nodded just as Sam gave a startled exclamation. He and Teal'c glanced at her and realized they could hear a growing hum…a mechanical hum that hadn't been there a moment ago. Jack met Carter's startled eyes for a brief second before she returned her gaze to the control panel.

"Carter…what did you do?"

"Sir! I have no idea. All I did was touch…"

"Aha!" He pointed at her accusingly, "You _touched_. What were you thinking, it's bad enough I can barely keep Daniel from touching stuff…"

Sam was staring intently at the panel in front of her when Jack realized the portal seemed to be glowing a rather disturbing black. Just as he was about to ask Carter what was happening, he heard 3 things almost simultaneously. A sharp grunt of pain was followed almost instantly by the sound of Teal'c's staff weapon activating and Daniel's stressed, "Guys!"

Sam and Jack spun on their heels, guns automatically at the ready. Jack swore under his breath. Daniel was on his knees, hands raised tentatively and Tormic's double-barreled hand gun pressing into his head. Tormic looked quite frankly terrified, eyes wide and alternating between the portal and Sam and Jack. His face was white. He hit a small button on his lapel and a blaring alarm went off. He then wrapped his hand around Daniel's throat.

Jack moved one hand in a placating gesture and said, "Easy, easy there Tormic." He met Daniel's eyes briefly, then looked back at Tormic. "Daniel. What's up?"

"Not sure." Daniel said cautiously. "I think he spooked when the portal activated."

"Uh huh."

Daniel spoke again, in Russian this time and he and Tormic started going back and forth, Tormic looking not in the least bit calmed by Daniel's words. Even as they spoke, a security force arrived and encircled them.

"Great." Jack didn't like the situation, not at all. _How quickly things fell apart_. "Oh, Daniel, we getting anywhere?"

Daniel looked at him and Jack was not in the least encouraged by the slight look of panic on his friend's face. "No." was all he managed to say before Tormic began shouting at the security team. They began to move in and Daniel started shouting in Russian. Tormic tightened his grip, leaving him gasping for breath. Tormic spoke more softly into Daniel's ear. He released his grip after Daniel nodded.

"Jack, they're going to kill us. They think we're possessed with the same thing that took over their world before. Either we leave through the portal or they shoot us all right here and now."

"Teal'c?"

"We will be unsuccessful in any attempt to fight, O'Neill."

"Crap. We have no idea what's on the other side." He looked back at Daniel, "We'll go back through the Stargate."

Daniel shook his head very slightly, "I tried that. They're afraid of us now. They think this portal is the door to death and…" His statement went unfinished as Tormic shoved the gun against his head a bit harder.

"Sir!" Sam exclaimed, hearing Tormic's weapon activating.

Jack nodded, "Ok, easy!"

They lowered their weapons and instantly the security team descended on them, shoving them toward the black portal. Jack struggled against the tide, trying to keep tabs on all his teammates. Tormic was shoving Daniel and he could hear Daniel shouting passionately and desperately, but to no avail.

_At least that means he's ok…and coming_. Jack had only a few seconds to take a deep breath before he found himself shoved into the portal.


	2. Chapter 2

Jack felt a momentary sensation…almost like the electrical zing of a zat. The next thing he felt was a wall of icy water. Thankfully, his practiced habit of taking a deep breath before walking through the Stargate served him well in going through the portal. He could see nothing but blackness and he instantly felt chilled to the core. Pushing off, he started swimming, fervently hoping they hadn't been sent to the bottom of a very deep ocean. He was just starting to feel a burn in his lungs when he felt something grab his arm. Startled at first, and envisioning less than friendly alien sea creatures with big teeth made him almost jerk away, but his own hand ran into an arm wearing a familiar feeling fabric.

He grabbed the arm and didn't let go, feeling the grip grow stronger on his own arm in return. A few seconds later and he broke through to the surface. It was dark, a pale moon shone in the black sky, giving a small amount of illumination. The waves were high and his pack and gun were heavy. Jack went under, and then kicked harder, pulling on his teammate. Surfacing again, he saw a blonde head bobbing next to him, struggling to stay afloat. He yanked Carter above the water, heard her choking and coughing on the water she had inhaled. He glanced around frantically. They weren't going to stay afloat for long if they couldn't get rid of their packs and guns soon.

And he really hated to drop anything since they had no idea what they were about to face in this place. Almost going under again, he glimpsed what appeared to be a stone wall off to their left. "Carter!" he shouted, "Swim!"

He pulled on her and together they headed for the wall. He thought he heard coughing somewhere behind him, but he was totally focused on getting Carter to the wall. She was hardly able to keep her head above the waves and he hoped she wasn't going to drown before they reached safety. His left shoulder smacked into something and he realized they were there.

"Carter, up!" he managed to get her at least peripherally aware and reaching up. A moment later and he'd basically shoved her over the low edge of the wall. She collapsed on the stone walkway, coughing up water. Jack levered himself up, swiftly dropping his pack and P90 next to her, while also doing a rapid survey around them. The darkness was oppressive. A very pale moon was showing in the dark sky, but it wasn't giving a lot of illumination. From what he could see, they appeared to be on some sort of a stone wall, like he would envision around a castle. Beyond where Carter was ½ sitting, he could see huge trees but that was about all. Either way down the wall they were on, he just saw what seemed to be a long stone walkway. No threats were obvious so he turned back to the foaming waves, looking for the rest of his team.

Shining a flashlight, he was relieved to see the back of Teal'c's head. He shouted and Teal'c turned; obviously he'd been uncertain as to what direction to go. As he turned, Jack saw that he wasn't alone. Daniel was with him, also struggling to stay afloat. It took a few moments of fighting the waves before the two men reached the wall. Jack leaned over the wall and grabbed at Daniel's pack even as he went under. Teal'c grabbed the wall with his left hand while he grabbed Daniel with his right hand and pushed him up toward Jack. Trying to drag a waterlogged archeologist and his pack full of books out of an alien ocean had not at all been part of Jack's plan when he'd gotten out of bed earlier in the morning….nor was it easy.

Teal'c helped as best he could and finally Daniel managed to climb over the edge and drop on the top of the walkway a few feet from Carter. She was still coughing, but had managed to get herself into a sitting position against the wall. Jack reached out a hand for Teal'c but found it filled instead by the Jaffa's pack.

"Teal'c?"

"I must search for my weapon while there is yet a chance to retrieve it."

Jack nodded as the other man started swimming away. Leaving the flashlight on the edge of the wall, Jack turned to check on his other teammates. Daniel was lying on his side, coughing up the other half of the ocean; the half Sam hadn't swallowed. Jack knelt in front of Sam, "Carter, you ok?"

She looked up at him, taking a ragged breath and trying not to cough. She was shivering hard enough that her teeth were chattering. He waved over his shoulder, "Can you manage to come over here and keep an eye out for Teal'c? He went back for his staff."

She nodded again and scrambled over, flicking on her own flashlight and casting Daniel a sympathetic look. Jack flicked on his own flashlight and tried to survey the area. They were sitting on a walkway about seven feet wide, made of stone, with a four-foot tall edge on either side. He couldn't tell how far it went in either direction and a quick look over the edge opposite of the one they'd just come over revealed a forest shrouded in blackness. He looked over his shoulder, "Any sign of him, Carter?"

"Not yet, sir." She shook her head, never turning from carefully scanning the dark waves.

He sighed and looked back down at Daniel who was still coughing hard, although he seemed to have thrown up most of the seawater he'd swallowed. He too was shivering and Jack suddenly realized his own teeth were chattering. "You ok?"

Daniel nodded.

Jack glanced back at Carter and was relieved to see her placing a staff weapon on the ground and then reaching over the edge. Jack went to lend a hand and Teal'c soon climbed over the edge.

"You ok?"

"I am well, O'Neill." He certainly appeared to be all right; he was breathing only slightly more quickly than normal.

Jack nodded, "Ok, kids, we gotta see what we're up against and find some shelter. Teal'c, you head that way. I'll head the other. Carter, you and Daniel hold down the fort here. Radio if you find anything or if anybody sees anything."

They nodded and Jack and Teal'c instantly set off. There wasn't much to discuss at this point. Sam ran a hand over her face, swiping away some drips and slid closer to Daniel who was pushing himself up. She helped guide him till he was leaning back against the wall, taking some gasping breaths between sporadic coughs. "Hey, how are you doing?" she asked softly.

Daniel shook his head slowly. He ran a hand through his hair and said hoarsely, "I'm losing my touch." He smiled half-heartedly, and then started coughing again.

Sam asked, "What do you mean?"

"My negotiation was rather unsuccessful."

Sam laughed but was interrupted by a coughing fit of her own.

"You two gonna live?" came Jack's tense voice. A short walk had revealed a whole lot of nothing. The walkway was crumbling in spots and dead-ended at a collapsed tower. They could climb it if need be, but he was hoping Teal'c was having better luck. He frowned down at his teammates and waved Sam down as she started to stand. "Take it easy, Major." He looked off in the direction Teal'c had gone, and then crouched down, taking a more serious assessment of his teammates' status. They both looked like drowned rats, but otherwise unharmed. He studied Daniel who was still putting a great deal of effort into breathing without coughing.

Jack shook his head, "You never shut up, did you? Just kept on talking till you hit a wall of water and you had no breath left?"

Daniel glared at him, "Trying to stop Tormic, Jack." He coughed, then continued, "Didn't envision an ocean on the other side."

"Ah. There's your problem. _Always _expect the worst. And always take a deep breath before you step through the gate."

"It wasn't a gate…"

"Gate, portal, mirror, your front door! I don't care…be prepared!"

Sam could just feel Daniel preparing for a spirited comeback, but Teal'c reappeared at that moment. "I have found a place where we may shelter."

"Excellent." Jack clapped his hands together, and extended a hand to pull Sam to her feet. He seemed pleased to have gotten the last word with Daniel, but was kind enough to offer a hand to his opponent who took it somewhat begrudgingly.

It only took them a few minutes to reach their destination. The walkway ended at a wooden doorway in a stone tower. They looked up at the tower, rising far above the wall, ominous in the dark. Teal'c motioned to the doorway and Jack led the way inside.

"Very homey, Teal'c."

"Indeed."

And it actually was rather homey, in a musty-old not recently lived in way. They began looking around a bit more seriously. Apparently, it had been some sort of a guard post. There were a few windows without glass and a very moldy and smelly pallet in a corner, a fireplace and an ancient table and four broken chairs. Various broken pieces of house wares were strewn around the room. Teal'c nodded to another door at the far end.

"It leads to a staircase. Upstairs is a small uninhabited room and down the stairs leads to a flooded area."

Jack nodded, "Ok. We set up camp here and sort this mess out. T, let's get a fire going."

A few minutes later they had no furniture, but a cheery fire and a stack of firewood. Sam shivered and slid closer to Daniel who was sitting so close to the fire she was afraid he was going to go up in flames. Jack and Teal'c sat opposite them, each keeping an eye on the doors. Now that they were settled, Jack released a bit of the pressure that had been building up inside him.

"Someone want to tell me why I'm sitting here, on some unknown planet freezing and half-drowned after being attacked by an angry mob instead of sitting back with a cold one celebrating the successful trade alliance between earth and the Kamyen Obyet?"

Seeing Carter's guilt stricken look, Jack felt bad for having let _that_ much pressure come out. He sighed, "Answers, people. What happened back there?"

Sam swallowed hard and said softly, "Honestly, Colonel, I'm not sure."

He held her gaze, "Ok. What were you doing just before things went south?"

Frowning, Sam considered carefully, "I was analyzing what appeared to be a control panel. I didn't read any power on the device. It seemed like it was completely dead. It really looked similar to Goa'uld design, cannibalized and modified, but Goa'uld."

Teal'c nodded, "It was of Goa'uld design. I was uncertain as to its purpose as well. The crystals appeared depleted."

Jack rubbed his hands together, "Well appearances are deceiving. What next?"

"I decided to open the control panel to get a better look."

"That touching thing again…what have I told you guys…" Jack broke off as he saw Carter's eyes drop and he felt the full intensity of the glare Daniel was sending him.

Sam went on softly, "I opened it and there was some sort of a dial pad. It had some markings, but no actual buttons on it. I…I just dusted it off with my hand, sir. It was covered with grime." She looked a bit apprehensive at continuing, but pushed ahead. "I barely touched it, and the portal started to light up. Given the Goa'uld design, I think it might have been because of…well…"

"Jolinar?" Daniel offered quietly, touching her arm encouragingly. Sam nodded. Daniel glanced at Jack. "That actually fits with what Tormic was saying."

Jack nodded, "Yes, Tormic. Your turn."

"He went a bit crazy when it activated."

"The gun at your head kind of clued me in."

"They've never seen it activated. Never. The last time anyone even heard of it being opened was by a man who was enslaving the people and who finally went through it and never returned." He cleared his throat and shrugged, "They thought we were the same kind of people; ones that had the power to open the portal. They just panicked." He shook his head slowly.

Jack sighed. "Swell." He looked at Teal'c. "Did you see any control panel on this side of the portal?"

"Indeed. It appeared to have been purposefully destroyed."

"So no way back."

Teal'c nodded once, "So it would seem."

Jack gritted his teeth. Trapped and low on choices. He hated this feeling. He looked at his team. "Next on the agenda. Any ideas, or educated guesses as to where we are?"

Sam shook her head, "Could be anywhere, sir. Another planet, another part of Kamyen Obyet."

"I don't think so." Daniel interjected, his voice still hoarse. "They're advanced like the Tollan, remember. They would most likely know about this place," He waved his hand vaguely, "if it _were_ on their world. And Tormic clearly didn't know of another portal."

Jack nodded. "Great. So if all possibilities are possible, this could very well be an alternate reality." He watched Sam and Daniel exchange hesitant, slightly guilty looks. He shook his head. "That portal…thing…_did_ look like that mirror."

"Indeed."

Jack pointed at Daniel. "What did you say Tormic thought it was…there at the end?"

Daniel frowned, thinking back. "The door to death?"

"Yes, that. Exactly. Not a nice name."

"No. I think it is partially just the legendary name or a kind of an urban legend if you will. The people had no way to explain where those people disappeared to, and since they never came back, it's easy to see how they might have thought it was a door to, well, death." Daniel shrugged.

Jack shook his head. "Great. Well, presuming we aren't actually dead…" he paused a moment as he considered that possibility, "here's the plan. We're set up relatively securely here. We can't very well go waltzing around a strange…and wet place in the dark. We need to dry out and check our gear and see what's salvageable. Let's eat, get some rest and we'll get a better look around in the morning. It's been a long day."

It _had _been a long day. The pre-mission briefing had been at 0700 and they'd been off world by 0730. The walk from the gate to the town had taken almost two hours and they'd spent a considerable time with the people before returning to the SGC. After another set of meetings at the SGC, they had headed back to the planet at a bit after 1500. Another set of meetings with the Kamyen Obyet leaders, and then the tour of the town. It all had gone fine up until the point when it all fell apart...

They all nodded and started pulling their packs open. Jack pointed a finger at Daniel who had just started talking about the approximate age of the tower. "And, Daniel."

Daniel pulled out a granola bar, "Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Sam and Daniel exchanged glances, Daniel's mostly aggravated.

Jack went on quickly, "I know it will be a test of your willpower, but you've talked all day, and if you don't give your voice the night off…" he paused briefly, "Put it this way, I _so_ do not want to get killed because you couldn't do your friendly, 'we come in peace' speech to anyone we might meet here."

Daniel cracked a small smile and simply nodded. Jack took a drink and wondered how long the silence would last.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack had taken first watch, but found himself stirring sometime later. Peering with one eye, he saw Teal'c throwing another piece of broken furniture on the fire. If the Jaffa was on watch, that meant he had only around two hours left to sleep. Jack contemplated staying where he was and using his imagination to visualize himself getting a good night's sleep. But his mind was working overtime, overanalyzing every step of the previous day. What could they have done differently? Could they have prevented anything? Had he been too quick to trust the Kamyen Obyet people? Had he lead his team into a dangerous situation? How was he going to fix it now? Shaking his head, he opened his eyes again and stared dismally at the ceiling. He wasn't going to get any more rest. He needed to be doing…_something_. Sitting up, he pulled his hat on and nodded at Teal'c, joining him by the fire. It was a bit brighter outside, but still it looked to be a dark, gloomy day.

"O'Neill." Teal'c said softly, "Is something wrong?"

Shaking his head, Jack said, "No, just couldn't sleep." He glanced around the room, saw Carter curled up, apparently sleeping still. That left him one teammate short. He looked back at Teal'c. "Where's Daniel?"  
>Teal'c pointed to the staircase, "He also seemed unable to sleep and joined my watch."<p>

Nodding, Jack headed for the doorway. He shook his head. Daniel had stayed up during his watch too. Jack had been surprised that the archeologist had managed to remain silent the entire evening; either his throat hurt more than he wanted to admit, or there was something bothering him. He had turned in with Jack when Sam came on shift. So he'd maybe managed 2 hours of sleep. Jack entered the upstairs room, lit dimly from two small windows on opposite walls. There was a broken bookshelf in one corner, spilled books and some other assorted paraphernalia littering the area. A device that appeared to be a telescope of sorts stood by one window. Daniel was staring out the window on the opposite wall.

Jack walked over, noting the weariness and stress written all over his friend's face. Even though he wasn't sure he wanted to ask, Jack wondered what was going through his mind. He opted for a neutral opening, "Morning."

Daniel didn't look at him, but said softly, "Hey, Jack."

"Find anything good up here?"

Daniel sighed and rubbed his eyes, then returned his gaze to the world outside the window. Jack looked back at the room and said, "So, nothing much, eh?"

"I'm not sure." Daniel shrugged. "It's pretty much ruined. The books are almost all rotted; I can only read a few things." He coughed briefly, and then said, "I might be able to decipher some more of it, but I wasn't sure if I should waste my time on it."

Jack's ears perked up with that. Daniel's voice wasn't quite as hoarse as the night before, but now there was a rather telling note of discouragement in it. Jack still stayed with neutral and said, "Well right now we've got next to nothing. So if you got even a bit of info for us, I'd say it would be worth it."

Daniel nodded noncommittally. Jack left him with his thoughts and walked to the other window. The landscape was dismal. A grey sky, cloudy and ominous, cast its pale light over the landscape. The world was wooded and rocky, oppressive in its ruggedness. It reminded Jack of the coast of Maine. He could see a nearly completely overgrown rock path leading into the trees. Looking down, he realized that directly below them the ground was rocky and overgrown. To the left, back in the direction of the wall, water was seeping through the wall. Following the tree line, he looked up at the far horizon could see a line of mountains, touching the clouds. He could just barely make out a structure of some sort; it almost looked like a castle, perched up on a craggy cliff. Shaking his head, he started to turn and almost knocked Daniel over as he appeared at his side.

"Sorry." Daniel said, and then pointed back out the window, "You see it?"

"Yup." Jack acknowledged, waiting for any more conversation. When he got nothing but silence, he prompted, "Thoughts?"

Daniel frowned, "I'm not sure. It doesn't seem like we're going to be able to go back the way we came from what Teal'c said. So we're going to have to find another way. There doesn't seem to be much of value here."

Jack shook his head, "Nope, and there was a collapsed tower in the opposite direction. We could scale it, I suppose, but I don't think we're going to find anything that direction."

"The water has risen overnight." Daniel motioned to the other window, overlooking the ocean, "It's not going to be long before it breaches the wall. The only thing left is to take the high ground…while it stays that way and look for other options."

"Agreed. Ok, so here's what I'm suggesting. You look through some of this crap and grab whatever you even remotely think could be useful. We'll eat, pack up and head out before it gets any deeper out there."

Daniel nodded and reached for a book.

Jack turned to head back downstairs to tell Teal'c, and then paused at the door. "Daniel?"

Daniel glanced over at him.

"Stop blaming yourself."

"I'm not."

"You are."

"Jack."

"I can hear you all the way over here."

"We shouldn't even be here."

"Nope. But it doesn't make it your fault, and as much as I like having you to blame, I legitimately can't do it this time."

"Thanks." Daniel shook his head with a slight smile. "Glad to know I'm useful for something."

"Anytime. Now be useful for something else and find us a way out of here."

* * *

><p>Jack returned to their make-shift camp to find Sam up and nibbling a granola bar. This time, Teal'c was nowhere to be seen. Sam looked up at him with a tentative smile. "Morning, sir."<p>

"Morning, Carter. Why're you up?"

She shrugged and turned back to her pack. "Couldn't sleep." She shoved a few things back into her pack and sneezed.

"Where's Teal'c?"

"Outside trying to get the lay of the land."

"Good." Jack nodded, briefly telling Sam what he and Daniel had discovered. While she finished inventorying the supplies, he headed out to talk to Teal'c. He found the Jaffa back out on the walkway, surveying the area. He repeated the plan. "So, any thoughts?"

Teal'c acknowledged him with a slight nod, and then looked back over the wall toward the churning waves. He said, "I believe we should travel in the direction of the structure you mentioned. The water has risen inordinately rapidly."

Jack once again marveled at Teal'cs flair for understatement. The water had risen supernaturally rapidly in his opinion. It was cresting the wall with each wave and the walkway was already almost six inches deep in the icy water. Jack shook his head. Way to burn bridges behind them. "Just when you think it can't get any worse…"

"It is worse, O'Neill."

Jack glared at the Jaffa, "What do you mean?"

Teal'c motioned to the churning waters, "We were lucky to have made it out alive."

Jack followed his gaze and soon realized what he meant. The water wasn't just churning…it was churning with something that had very big teeth. Jack started to lean closer, but a big hand stopped him. "Go no closer. There are many of the creatures. Each with many, many teeth."

Jack nodded even as he glimpsed a whole lot of white flying through the air toward his head. Jumping back, he was thankful for Teal'c's hyper-vigilance. A zat blast caught the creature and sent it straight to the ground. Teal'c didn't hesitate, but shot it once more for good measure. Jack stared down at the creature, feeling growing concern building up inside. The creature was about three feet long, and a good two feet of that length was teeth. Large, vicious looking teeth in what appeared to be a very strong jaw. It was scaly and had four stubby legs, powerful legs with webbed feet. Jack had the disturbing thought that the thing would be as happy on land as at sea. He looked up at Teal'c, "I think we need to get the heck out of here."

"Indeed." Teal'c acknowledged, already heading for the tower, keeping a wary eye on the waves. Sam was just standing up when they reached the doorway.

Jack said, "Pack it in, Major, we got a problem."

"Problem?" She asked, clipping her P90 on.

"Think _Jaws_ only there's about a hundred of them and they're only 3 feet long."

Her eyes widened, and she started to ask a question, but was interrupted by a sudden clap of thunder. It was so loud, so abrupt and practically right on top of their heads that Sam jumped. She saw the Colonel react as if he thought the roof was about to come down on his head. Even Teal'c flinched. A split second later, as they all tried to recover from the shock, rain began to fall outside. And it wasn't falling like a spring shower. It was dumping from the darkening sky, heavy fat drops coming down in torrents. Lightning split the sky and thunder boomed again. For a moment, they all stood still and watched the rain and lightning in complete shock. Jack swore as he saw the waves spill over the wall and a half-dozen of the mini-Jaws flop onto the walkway. He slammed the door and grabbed his gear.

"We go _now_. You two see about a way down from that window." He ordered as he ran for the staircase. "We'll be right down." Taking the stairs two at a time, Jack only made it half-way when he felt the tower shake and tilt. He turned back and shouted, "You get the gear and get out now. Do not wait. That is an order!"

He heard Carter shout a "yes, sir" even as he dashed the rest of the way up the stairs.

"Daniel!" he shouted, "Pack it in, we gotta go _now._"

"One minute." Daniel called as Jack came through the door.

"No, we don't have one minute." Jack shook his head, grabbing Daniel's pack, already loaded with books. Daniel was across the room, staring at a suspicious looking object on the far wall. From his quick glance, Jack thought it looked like a colorful marble. A big, palm-sized marble stuck in the wall. Daniel's hand was hovering dangerously close and Jack was one breath away from shouting at him to move his butt when Carter's frantic call interrupted him.

"They've breached the door! They're going up the stairs. Get out of there, sir!"

Jack slammed the door shut, hearing a disconcerting patter of small feet with huge teeth coming up the stairs. Carter's voice rang out again, "We're clear. Sir, get out of there!"

"Daniel, now!"

"I'm ready!" Daniel shouted back, arms full and already staring out the window. Without hesitation, he started pitching books out the window. Jack tossed out the pack just as they heard something slam into the door behind them.

Jack trained his weapon on the door, then said, "Go now."

"Go how?" Daniel asked, tension evident in his voice. "Jump?"

"Or climb, I'm open to suggestions here, but we have got to go."

"I heard that." Daniel said, taking a deep breath and climbing out the window. The cut stone wall didn't exactly provide a great climbing surface, but he was prepared to do whatever it took to get down safely and quickly. The trick was to not look down. It was one thing when he had been peering out the window earlier at the distant scenery; it was another thing entirely to be clinging to the slippery rocks of a tower that was too far above the ground. Holding his breath, he glanced over his shoulder, trying to locate another hand or foothold. Finding one, he dropped down, and then felt movement beside him.

Jack was next to him, casting a concerned glance back up. "We don't have long; those things are powerful." He was already shimmying down the wall much more quickly than Daniel was. The deluge was making the climb more difficult and Daniel was having an increasingly difficult time not visualizing himself in a few broken pieces at the bottom of the wall. From what he had seen when he tossed out the books, the ground was a lot of unwelcoming boulders. He sucked in another deep breath and forced himself to hurry down the wall to catch up with Jack.

After a moment, they were more or less side by side and Jack gave him a quick nod of encouragement. They both started looking for another foothold when their focus was interrupted by a frantic shout from Carter, followed immediately by the sound of a P90 firing. Daniel slipped in surprise and just barely caught himself. Jack cursed and looked down, finding Teal'c and Carter with their guns pointed up.

"Sir! Hurry!" Carter shouted, followed by more gunfire. Cursing again, Jack happened to glance upward and then he cursed even more. Dozens of the creatures were scrambling down the wall toward them, apparently fully capable of scaling stone walls with ease. He scrambled downward faster, urging Daniel on frantically. He could tell Daniel was doing everything in his power to avoid looking down. Glancing down, Jack realized they were near enough to jump. He opened his mouth to shout instructions to that effect when he felt something smack his left hand. Something hard and sharp. He jerked his hand away instinctively and it was a very good think because, if he hadn't, he would've been short one left hand.

Jaws was coming at his head and he lost his grip on the rock wall, falling backward. He hit the ground with a jolt and found himself looking up from his butt at an army of the fierce little monsters. Before he could react, Daniel dropped much more gracefully, to land on his feet next to Jack, firing his P90 non-stopped. He hauled Jack to his feet, pulling him away from the wall. Jack lifted his P90 and joined in the effort even as he instinctively reached out a hand to snag the pack he'd thrown out the window earlier. Daniel grabbed two books that he could reach but never stopped scurrying backwards. Sam and Teal'c were suddenly at their sides, adding supportive fire.

"Head to the boulders!" Sam shouted above the noise, "I've got grenades."

They all had been moving away from the wall as quickly as possible and ducked behind the first boulder they reached, while still firing at the creatures. Sam and Teal'c each lobbed a grenade, and then quickly took cover behind the rocks. The explosions sent showers of dirt and small fragments of stone down on them. After the debris stopped flying, Jack cautiously looked out. The smoke was still rising, but he didn't see any big mouths coming toward them anymore. Standing up, he held his gun at the ready and took a closer look. Dozens of the creatures lay in pieces in front of him. There were also splotches and pools of…

"Yellow blood." Daniel said curiously as he appeared at Jack's side. "That's odd."

"You sure bout that?" Jack snorted.

Taking one step forward, Daniel said, "Well, only odd from the viewpoint of an earthling, I suppose. Really, the only things with yellow blood on earth are certain types of…"

"Whatever." Jack cut him off impatiently. His hand was starting to throb now, and, he noted, bleed some good old fashion earthling red blood. He was also cold, very wet again and not very rested. "Looks like we got them." He adjusted his cap and turned to face his team.

Teal'c was poking disdainfully at one of the dead creatures with his staff weapon. Carter was shivering and awaiting his orders like the good 2IC that she was. Daniel was rubbing his eyes and leaning over a dead creature to get a better look. For a moment, the only sounds were the wind, occasional rumbles of thunder and the constant downpour. Jack took a full circle look at the perimeter and tried to formulate the plan that his team was going to expect him to come up with. When he finished his circuit, Jack found only one pair of expectant eyes waiting on him. Sam looked at him patiently. Teal'c was doing his own analysis of the area. Daniel too was wandering around, shining his flashlight around the woods and boulders.

Jack shook his head and looked back at Carter. "So."

She blinked and tilted her head slightly, "Sir?"

"Thoughts?"

She squared her shoulders, but her expression remained uncertain. "We need to figure out where we are now."

"Yes we do. Suggestions?"

Carter bit her lip and looked thoughtful.

Teal'c spoke up, "We will need to seek higher ground. The water is rising more rapidly."

Jack and Sam turned and followed his gaze.

"Crap!" Jack exclaimed. Teal'c was totally right. The water was flooding over the wall like Niagara Falls and was already several feet high where they had climbed down from the tower only moments ago. "We walk into a monsoon or something?" Jack shook his head, "Right, no going back that way without diving gear…or a submarine. So we go that way. Daniel and I could see some sort of a structure up in the mountains. We go check it out."

He turned and headed back toward the boulders and the edge of the forest. He heard Sam and Teal'c behind him. Realizing the last member of his team was currently unaccounted for, he shouted, "Daniel!"

"Over here!" Came the immediate reply from behind another outcropping of rocks. "I found some writing…well, pictographs really…"

"Of course you did." Jack muttered, heading toward the voice that had trailed off and was currently muttering to itself. Jack pulled his cap down lower over his eyes to attempt to reduce the amount of rain falling in his eyes. He heard Sam and Teal'c behind him, sloshing along the nearly sodden trail. They found Daniel leaning over a broken slab of rock, tracing his fingers along a line of images that were mostly faded away.

"Well?" Jack asked, looking warily around the area. Teal'c was already making a careful circuit of the area while Sam had joined Daniel. She wiped her face again and peered over Daniel's shoulder.

"Can you read any of it?" She asked. None of it made any sense to her.

Daniel nodded, slowly. He straightened up and said, "It's not really good news."

"The way today has gone, I'm not surprised." Jack sighed, "So spit it out."

Daniel nodded, "Well, I can only decipher pieces of this; it's faded and destroyed in parts. The best I can guess is that this is a pictorial warning sign, probably done by some of the Kamyen Obyet that Dougrae brought through the portal. Basically it describes the various types of wildlife on the planet."

"Planet?" Sam repeated, "So it _is_ another planet?"

Daniel shook his head, "Not necessarily." He waved at the rock again, "I mean, these people were illiterate. They scribbled warnings in a rudimentary pictographic form. Somehow I doubt they were astronomers of any skill."

"Fine, whatever." Jack interrupted, "So it's just a sign advertising the creatures in the zoo. Nothing else of importance?"

Daniel opened his mouth, but Teal'c interrupted. "These creatures represented here are most deadly." He extended a finger to point out what looked like a crude representation of a bear. Everyone followed his gaze, and then looked back at the Jaffa. Jack waved one hand in a 'please continue' gesture. Teal'c nodded, "They are creatures of incredible power, vicious and unrelenting in their pursuit of their prey. They are found in cold, mountainous places, seldom seen in daylight. I have never seen one, only heard of them in stories. They were known as _Sha_."

"_Sha?" _Daniel asked, "That's the totemic animal that represents Seth! It is a jackal-headed dog. I wonder if this was once a place ruled by Seth."

"Wonderful." Jack shook his head, "You recognize any of the other monsters on this rock?"

"I do not."

"Daniel, what else have you figured out from this wall?"

"It shows those things that attacked us back at the tower."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing I can really decipher."

Jack nodded, giving the dark woods around them a cursory glance. "All right. Let's move out. We'll follow this so called path as long as we can. Eyes open, people."

Teal'c headed down the path, Daniel at his side. Sam started to follow, then fell in step with Jack when he asked her, "Carter, what is up with this weather? The rain just exploded out of the sky with no warning. It has continued since then at the exact same intensity and the flooding seems out of control. A normal weather pattern this is not."

Sam smiled, even as she side-stepped a deep puddle. "No, it's not normal. But we've also seen a lot of other 'not normal' this side of the gate."

"Yes. So we have, Major. I think this non-stopped downpour is going to be high on my list of 'not normal' that I really hate."

"I agree with you there, sir. This is rather unpleasant."

"To put it mildly," Jack grimaced, lifting his left hand. The rain was rinsing the blood from the wound on his hand, so it didn't look too bad. But it hurt.

Sam caught his movement. "Sir!" She exclaimed, seeing a flash of red, "Did you get injured back there?"

"One of those monsters started to nibble on my hand," He admitted. Sam instantly darted around him and grabbed his hand. "Carter, it's nothing."

"Sorry to disagree, sir, but we have no idea if those things have poisonous saliva or something." She was pulling out her med kit, shouting up at Daniel and Teal'c to wait. Jack gritted his teeth as she began to clean the wound. She peered at the cut and reported, "Well, it actually isn't terribly big, maybe a few centimeters, but it looks kind of deep."

"Those teeth were long, Carter." Jack replied as she dabbed at the wound.

"Hey, what's up?" Daniel asked, and then frowned as he saw Sam holding Jack's hand. A second later and his nose was next to Carter's analyzing the wound more intently than Jack would have liked. Daniel glared up at Jack, "One of those things bit you? And you didn't say anything?"

Jack shrugged, "We were in a rush."

Daniel stepped back slightly, but continued to glare. Jack glared back, grimacing as Carter bandaged his hand. Jack leveled his glare at her, "Happy?"

"Not really, sir." Carter glared right back. "We have to watch this very closely."

Jack nodded, reclaiming his hand as she replaced her kit. "Watch it we shall. Can we get a move on now?"

Sam nodded and they started out again.


	4. Chapter 4

The next seven hours were long, hard and miserable. They quickly found that they had to forge their own path through the rocky forest. The ancient path they initially started following was overgrown and disappeared in places. Teal'c had taken up position "Daniel Boone-ing it" as Jack said. After Daniel gave a brief lesson on who Daniel Boone had been, Teal'c acknowledged his role as trail blazer. The rain never let up, making the rocks slick and the ground mushy and slippery. Teal'c was the only one who, thus far, had managed to avoid falling at one point or another.

Sam caught herself on a nearby tree and sighed. She was exhausted and cold. And she was blaming herself for the entire mess even though she rationalized she really wasn't entirely responsible. Yes, she'd touched that panel on the portal device and inadvertently activated it. But it _was_ her job to investigate alien technology. And how was it _her_ fault that it had activated because of her latent Tok'ra protein marker?

"Crap." She cursed softly.

"You ok?"

Sam nodded at Daniel who had appeared at her side, concern on his face.

"It's not your fault, you know."

She looked at him sharply. He knew her far too well and she wasn't sure she liked the way he was reading her mind right now. She glared at him, noting Teal'c and the Colonel were several yards ahead. "Not my fault. I don't know who else to blame for this fiasco." She said bitterly.

"Why does it have to be anyone's fault, Sam?" Daniel asked softly, "You had no idea what would happen when you touched that panel and no control over how the people would react."

Sam slid a bit in the mush, catching herself on a tree, even as she heard Daniel curse under his breath and fall to his knees. Feeling her bad temper fade somewhat at his words, she offered a hand and a small smile.

"Thanks." He accepted her hand and grimaced as he stood up. It certainly wasn't the first time he'd found himself in the mud, but it wasn't getting any more pleasant. He looked at Sam, saw the tentative smile in spite of the tension and barely muted anger in her eyes. He tugged at her hand and asked quietly, "What's going on, Sam?"

For a brief second, she looked like she might cry. Then she shook her head and pulled her hand free, "I'm fine, Daniel. Let's go."

"Sam…"

"Daniel, just drop it, ok?" She forced herself not to look back at him. _Just keep going, please Daniel, not now._ She heard his sloshing steps behind her and his quiet "Ok." Sam bit her lip. He sounded as defeated and despondent as she felt. _Crap._ She repeated, this time only in her head.

Jack glanced over his shoulder and saw Carter help Daniel up. He paused, ready with a biting comment, but held his tongue as he watched their interaction and saw their faces. Now was not the time for joking. Something seemed to be off with both of them and he wasn't sure what. But he didn't like it at all. He shook his head and slid down a slight incline. He had some idea about Carter. She'd been a lot shaken by the whole episode with Orlin. Having your sanity questioned and your privacy invaded was never pleasant. Didn't help that she'd grown to care for the alien guy a bit either.

Then, they'd just come off the whole disaster on K'Tau. He'd known at the time that Carter had blamed herself. _And continues to blame herself._ That mission had been well over a week and a half ago, but she had yet to let it go. Yeah, things had turned out ok overall; meaning the planet hadn't exploded, but the mess had cost them some good men and a lot of time and effort. And it had cost Carter some self-confidence as well. Jack steadied himself on a rock and knew his Major was beating herself up over this mess as well. He'd seen the bitterness on her face when she'd helped Daniel.

_Ah, Daniel._ He frowned. What was going on with _him_ Jack wasn't sure. But something wasn't right there either, and it hadn't started today. No, whatever was eating at the archeologist had started a while ago. Jack couldn't put his finger on it yet, when exactly it had started, or what exactly _it_ was, but there was something definitely bothering him.

_And it's getting worse, not better._

* * *

><p>Teal'c was thankful that he had just rounded an outcropping of rocks when his feet slid out from under him and he lurched to the side to grab a hold of a branch to keep from falling face first into the mud. A glance over his shoulder and he smiled very slightly, knowing that the others hadn't seen his misstep. As the former first prime of Apophis, his life, the lives of his wife and son, and the men serving under him all depended on his diligence and the fact that he made no missteps. A misstep would never have been tolerated. Even now, he allowed himself no room for errors. Errors cost people's lives and errors cost his team. This he knew well.<p>

His jaw clenched as he remembered his weakness recently when he'd failed his team by seeking revenge on Tanith. His anger and illogical actions had almost cost them everything when he had been captured by Apophis. He had not ceased to curse himself for what he had done and how he had behaved toward his teammates after their return to the SGC. Despite the fact that he had been brainwashed and his team had assured him that they bore him no ill will for his actions, he could not find it in himself to forgive himself. Shaking his head, he tried to pull his thoughts back to the present.

This place offered uncertainty and much danger, he feared. The persistent rain was not only uncomfortable, it was also demoralizing and the terrain exhausting. He had managed to get enough rest during the night that he felt strong and energized. But he knew the rest of the team had not rested as well. Major Carter had seemed to rest the best, but even she seemed weary. He feared that she was blaming herself. He also feared that the unexpected awakening of the abilities left by Jolinar had disquieted her mind and soul. Although she had reached a certain level of peace with the latent protein marker, Teal'c knew that it was still a source of confusion and distress for her.

He paused at the top of a craggy hillside, seeing a river below. He felt movement at his side and met O'Neill's questioning gaze.

"What's up, Teal'c?"

"There is a river below. I see no way across from here."

Jack pulled out his field glasses and surveyed the area, hearing Sam and Daniel coming up beside him. After a moment's analysis, he nodded, "Yep. I don't see any bridge or anything."

"Shall we continue in this direction?"

Jack nodded, "We've got to get across it one way or another. That castle is up in those mountains beyond it and that's still our most logical target."

"Indeed." Tealc turned and headed down the hillside.

Jack glanced over his shoulder before following. Sam nodded and started walking somewhat dejectedly. Daniel had his eyes firmly focused on the ground. Jack felt his stomach growl and tried to ignore the exhaustion that had been creeping up on him all day. They'd only eaten some granola bars on the way and they'd been walking, and climbing for nearly seven hours now without a break. Once they reached the edge of the river, Jack decided, they were going to get something to eat and rest for a bit.

* * *

><p>It was perfectly miserable, Sam thought, chewing determinedly. She was soaked to the skin, shivering despite her best efforts and having a hard time not coughing. She had the very discouraging though that she might be coming down with a cold. They had been sitting at the edge of a very fast moving river for about ten minutes discussing their next move. The only upside to the whole thing actually was the fact that she <em>was<em> sitting down, even if it was on a hard rock. Ah, her feet ached. As did her legs, lower back, oh and her shoulders too. She tried to get her mind off her discomfort by listening to the discussion around her.

"It is far too swift to attempt to wade or swim across." She zoned back in to hear Teal'c's insistence. He rather sounded like he'd said that a few times already.

"I know, I know. Heard you the first three times, Teal'c." Jack was muttering, standing up and looking past them to the river. He knew it was too swift, too wide, and too blasted cold to try to get across. He hadn't missed the way Carter's teeth were chattering. It felt like it was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit or so, but with the chilling downpour, the cold was getting rather pronounced. They needed to find some sort of shelter for the night and a way to dry off and warm up.

"What if we go up the river a bit and see if we can find a bridge or a narrower part to cross?"

Jack turned back and nodded. It wasn't the first time Daniel had submitted that suggestion. Jack just hated to take any more time on what could be a futile trip. He was putting all his eggs in one basket: the castle. He knew it, although he didn't like it one bit. It could be a total waste of time going to the castle, but they were totally in the unknown so at this point, it didn't seem to matter what they did. He nodded again.

"Right. We divide to hopefully conquer. Everyone ready to go?" He got three nods back. "Ok." He started binding his pack up. "Carter, you and Teal'c head downstream. Radio if you find anything."

Sam hated to get back up on her aching feet, but she did. Rubbing her hands together, she asked, "How far do you want us to go before we turn back?"

Jack shook his head, "No turning back, Major, unless one of us finds something."

She nodded and Teal'c inclined his head just slightly as they headed to the left. Jack watched them go for a few seconds, and then sighed, hoping desperately he had made the right decision. Turning back, he saw that Daniel had already started walking along the edge of the river in the opposite direction. With one last look over his shoulder, Jack headed after his friend.

* * *

><p>Teal'c heard Sam stumble behind him and he paused, holding a tree branch aside so it wouldn't hit her in the head. She nodded her thanks as she regained her footing. They had been walking for almost twenty minutes and neither had spoken since they'd started off. Teal'c knew that she was upset, but he held his tongue. He knew how to remain silent and not pressure another into speaking when they were not ready to do so. Samantha Carter held her feelings and emotions very tightly. Over the years, Teal'c had learned much of the Tau'ri as a people. He had learned even more about the three individuals on his team. In some ways, his teammates had more in common with him then they knew.<p>

Being a Jaffa leader and First Prime to a false god had certainly molded his very being, but that wasn't entirely why he was the way he was. Teal'c had never been one to share intimate feelings from his heart. He was, from childhood, a solitary and introverted man. Confiding in Bra'tac had not come easily, but it became his closest relationship until he came to earth. _Even closer than I have ever been with Drey'auc._ Teal'c thought ruefully. He seemed, from the Tau'ri perspective, to be a very secluded person and almost reclusive in nature and habits. However, Teal'c had come to realize that he really wasn't at all so different from the rest of his teammates. Each of them hid their personal feelings and struggles deep. They were very private individuals who did not easily confide in others. He had watched as they had grown closer to one another and each had learned how to share more of their innermost fears and struggles.

Teal'c knew that, even now, the members of his team were troubled. O'Neill was concerned about their current situation, how they were going to return to earth and what dangers lay ahead. Teal'c felt the same concerns. Samantha Carter, on the other hand was blaming herself, still reeling from her the unfortunate experience on K'Tau. She was carefully bottling up her feelings and Teal'c knew she wouldn't easily discuss what was bothering her. He also feared the Major was growing ill. Her coughing and pale features had not escaped his notice. He felt that the silence that had been growing less than companionable needed to be broken. He decided to break it in what he hoped would be an innocuous way that would set his friend at ease while also introducing another subject that had been concerning him for some time.

"Major Carter." His voice seemed loud and harsh after so many silent moments.

Sam jerked her head up at the sound of Teal'c's voice. "What is it, Teal'c? You see something?" She asked, coughing despite her best efforts.

"Not yet, Major Carter. I merely wanted to ask your opinion on a matter that has been troubling me."

They paused at a long shelf of craggy rock and Teal'c turned to meet her questioning gaze. "Sure, Teal'c." Sam nodded, "What's up?" She was quite thankful that he'd spoken. The silence had been comforting to her only because her mind was full of her own very troubling matters and she hadn't wanted to talk about them. But the silence had also been oppressive between friends, so she was now more than willing to talk for a while.

Teal'c said, "For some time now, I have noticed a change in Daniel Jackson."

Sam wiped a hand over her face even though it did nothing to help eliminate the rain that was pelting her face so hard at times that it was difficult to see. "Daniel?" She repeated, "What do you mean?"

Teal'c led the way down the rocks back to the river's edge and continued, "Has he not seemed more withdrawn as of late?"

Sam jumped over a log as she considered Teal'c's words. Truth was, she _had_ noticed that something seemed to be bothering Daniel lately. She'd been so distracted with general busyness and craziness of life that she really hadn't paid that much attention. She shrugged, "I guess he has seemed a bit distant lately, Teal'c. I've been so focused on work that I haven't really talked to him much. Sometimes he just gets quiet for a while." They all knew there were still times when the archeologist would grow more depressed and introverted. It had been common from day one, and had grown somewhat worse since his wife's death.

Teal'c nodded his head, "I have been considering what could be disturbing him at this time."

"Have you talked to him?"

"I have not." Teal'c felt bitterness welling up inside. "I do not know if he would confide in me after…."

Sam heard his inadvertent hesitation and knew immediately what he meant by 'after.' She jogged a bit until she reached his side. Gripping his arm, she met his eyes earnestly, saddened by the bitter regret she saw in the dark eyes. "Teal'c." She said, "Don't do this to yourself. What happened with Apophis was absolutely not your fault." She really thought they'd gotten past this issue, but clearly Teal'c was still struggling with his actions.

"Apophis used you, but he's gone now, and we all survived that mess. You have to know none of us blame you or are angry with you. We were all so worried about you."

Teal'c inclined his head, "Thank you, Major Carter. Your words are very kind. I fear it shall be a long time before I am able to forgive myself. I recall all too well the terrible words I spoke to each of you while under Apophis' influence."

"Well, you weren't exactly your usual polite self, I'll admit." Sam smiled, feeling just a bit better. She felt even better when Teal'c cracked a small, but genuine smile of his own.

* * *

><p>Had they been sitting on his roof, studying the stars, relaxed after a pizza and a movie, the twenty minute silence between them would have been comfortable and companionable. While they could just as easily be found in the midst of an animated conversation or even a heated argument, silence was more often than not just as comfortable and not usually oppressive. Today, however, the silence was feeling very oppressive to Jack.<p>

They hadn't spoken a word since they'd split up with Sam and Teal'c and in the seven or so hours before that, they had exchanged only minimal words. It didn't feel right. Looking dismally over at the raging river, Jack tried to distract himself with a battle plan. They were heading to high ground, almost always a good plan. In this case, it was almost assuredly a wise one considering the unnatural downpour and flooding. Despite the fact that they were on higher ground now than when they had started, the rain had not slowed in the slightest and, Jack was 100% certain that the river had risen by over two feet in the time they'd been walking along it. That was concerning him greatly as he had no way of knowing how much farther it was to higher ground. Or how they were going to get across a river that they had already determined was too dangerous to cross…and was growing more dangerous by the second.

The entire time Jack had been studying the river, noting the less than encouraging whitecaps and rapids and huge boulders in it. Kawalsky would have been in seventh heaven with a raft or a kayak on these rapids. Jack shook his head at the unexpected memory. It had been, what? Four, five years now since Charlie had died? He still missed him now and then and often thought about how great a team leader he had been, however briefly, and how much greater he could have become. Jack was spared any further reminiscing when his keen senses recognized that his were the only footsteps he heard.

Turning around instantly, he saw Daniel on his hands and knees in the muck and at first assumed he had stumbled again. Even as he started back, he realized that Daniel was actually doing what his job description originally said he did: dig in the dirt. So Jack cast a glance around and leaned up against a tree to wait. He'd give Daniel five minutes. He had confidence that his friend was doing something he at least hoped was profitable. Even if he was an archeologist by trade, Jack knew Daniel didn't like being soaked and muddy any more than he did and wouldn't waste time doing anything unnecessary. As three minutes ticked by in silence, Jack started to feel even more uncomfortable with the lack of conversation. Why wasn't Daniel talking non-stopped about whatever long dead civilization had left behind some wondrous artifact?

There was a time and a place for it, but right now he had a feeling he wouldn't like the reasons for Daniel's continued reticence. Whatever was bothering him was bothering him in a big way. The second the five minutes were up, Jack asked brightly, "Lose your keys?"

The quick smile he received helped relax Jack's frazzled nerves just a bit. He tried again, "Your umbrella?"

"Haha." Daniel shook his head, focusing on uncovering what looked like an overgrown stone carving. Jack flipped on his flashlight and aimed it at the stone. Daniel didn't look up, but said, "Thanks."

"Welcome." Jack finally crouched down to get a better look for himself. So far, there wasn't much to see. "What exactly are you trying to accomplish here?"

"See what's written here."

"Can you read it?"

"Well, no." Daniel paused to shove aside a few rocks and brush his fingers over the engravings. "That would be why I'm digging."

Jack took a brief look around the area again. Other than the sounds of the storm and the river, he heard nothing to concern him so he concentrated a bit harder on pointing the flashlight where Daniel needed it.

"Jack, doesn't this look familiar?"

Jack looked harder. "Looks like…well actually, it looks like a…"

"Ring platform!" They said together, exchanging a knowing glance.

"Great." Jack sighed, looking around again and suddenly seeing glowing eyes at every side, "I guess I shouldn't _at all_ be surprised that we're on a Goa'uld held world."

"Not necessarily." Daniel quickly countered.

"Not necessarily be surprised or not necessarily assume we're on a Goa'uld held world?"

Daniel shot him an annoyed look, "This is really over grown and looks pretty well worn down by the elements. I think there's a good chance the Goa'uld left this planet a long time ago."

They looked at each other for a moment.

"Long time ago, eh?" Jack narrowed his eyes.

"Possibly." Daniel nodded.

"_Possibly_?"

"Potentially."

"Really?"

Daniel's eyes slid back to the overgrown platform, "Maybe."

Jack's eyebrows went up, "_Maybe_?"

Daniel glared at him, "Jack! I don't know for sure. You have the same amount of information in front of you that I do. Why do you always assume I have the answers you're looking for?"

Jack held back his biting retort, sensing that it wasn't a good time for it. Instead he nodded, "I assume it because most of the time you and Carter always _do_ have the answers I'm looking for. Anyway, what do you suggest we do now?"

"We see if we can get it operational again."

"We see if we…what?"

Daniel shrugged, "Might take us to the castle."

"Which might be as overgrown as this, or worse, the home of a ticked off Goa'uld."

Daniel just stared at him.

Jack ran through various scenarios in his head before finally relenting. "Fine, we try it." He fingered his radio, "Carter."

Sam almost jumped at the sound of her radio crackling to life. She fingered hers quickly, "Sir."

"Sitrep."

Sam looked around the dilapidated building she stood in. "Well, sir, we think there's a good chance this may have been a Goa'uld planet."

"Got that, Carter."

Sam exchanged a glance with Teal'c. The Colonel sounded a trifle irritable. "Daniel just dug up what we think…" there was an interruption on his end for a few seconds, then he came back on, sounding even more irritated, "what we_ know_ is a ring platform."

"We found one too, sir!" There was another long pause.

"You did?"

"Yes, sir. We're just now trying to figure out where we are…we stumbled upon it and it transported us…somewhere."

"Somewhere?" Sam could almost hear the Colonel's eyeballs rolling in his head.

"Yes, sir. It's some sort of a building. We just got here and are only starting to look around."

"Keep me posted, Major. Use extreme caution."

"Yes sir. You guys too." Sam followed Teal'c out of the dark room where the platform was located. There was only one door and it opened to a long hallway. Sam took a moment to appreciate the fact that she wasn't getting any wetter. She glanced up and down the barren hallway. The walls were empty, and there were no lights showing that she could see.

Teal'c had quickly inspected the hall to the right. He returned to her side with a shake of his head. "There is only one room in that direction and it is devoid of life or anything else."

Sam nodded, "So, left then."

"Indeed."

* * *

><p>When the ring platform finally activated, it did so unexpectedly and Jack barely had time to get inside. A familiar flash of light and they felt the always slightly shocking rush of being transported from one place to another. Jack was just hoping that wherever they were going to was somewhere close to where Sam and Teal'c were at. The ring platform dropped them in a dark room. They automatically stood back to back as they surveyed the room with their P90's at the ready. The flashlights on their weapons allowed them only limited visualization of the area, but that limited visualization was enough to show them three things: the room had a distinctive Goa'uld flavor to it, it was empty of life, but full of death.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Their curses were simultaneous. Having fought in many battles, Jack was not unaccustomed to bodies, and obviously Daniel's job required a willingness to be around corpses. Even so, neither could have prepared themselves for what they were currently staring at. Jack's stomach lurched as he took in the sight and the stench. He felt like he had just walked into a Nazi concentration camp.

The room was huge; a cavernous warehouse in fact, and it was filled with bodies. Bodies were stacked on metal shelves that lined up in neat rows forming aisle after aisle of a grotesque display. Even as he tried to assimilate the horrible scene in his mind, Jack heard Daniel cursing continually from a few feet away. He turned and realized why.

Daniel was standing next to a shelf that held some suspiciously small corpses. Jack felt dangerously close to losing what he'd eaten earlier. From the stricken look on Daniel's face, Jack knew he was feeling the same way. They caught each other's eyes and Daniel shook his head slowly. His voice was low and a bit shaky when he spoke.

"I don't know."

Daniel wanted to erase the image of a dozen small bodies from his mind. It was impossible to really tell how most of them had died, but it didn't really matter. They were children; didn't matter what planet or world or dimension they were in…they were just kids. He regretted that he hadn't been able to steer Jack away before he caught on. Time healed many things, but wounds that were that deep would never completely be gone.

Jack walked over, trying not to look too closely at the stack of children's bodies. He pulled on Daniel's sleeve slightly, "Come on."

Nodding, Daniel started to follow him when they were startled by a sudden buzzing noise and a flash of light. They instantly dropped into a crouched position and concealed themselves as best as they could next to a shelf of bodies. The flash flickered several times and suddenly the room was filled with light. Sickly, weak and flickering light, but light. They remained where they were as their eyes adjusted to the comparative brightness. For a full minute, they remained silent, observing the room. No Jaffa came marching toward them, there was no sounds of voices, and no obvious signs of anyone entering the room.

Jack glanced at Daniel and shrugged.

Daniel shrugged back.

Jack slowly stood up and took a cautious perusal of the room, or as much of it as he could see. "So." He drew the word out into a sentence.

"Uh huh." Daniel replied noncommittally.

"We turn on some kind of automated system?"

"Could be." Daniel peered around the shelf. Still the room was entirely silent. There were some low metal tables and crates of various sizes. Some rather threatening implements were scattered around. Daniel had no desire to try to imagine what they had been used for. Despite his initial shock and horror at seeing the bodies, especially the children's bodies, Daniel found his desperate desire to understand what was in front of him overcoming the revulsion he felt. "Everything seems deserted and rather…"

"Disheveled?"

"Yes, actually."

Jack shrugged, "Let's take a hike."

As they walked, Daniel started studying the bodies on the shelves. Shining his light over the corpses, he paused now and then to get a better look. After a few minutes, Jack spoke up.

"So?"

"I don't know. Some of the bodies look like they were killed violently. Look there, I'd swear that's from a staff weapon." Daniel stopped and pointed.

Jack joined him in analyzing the corpse and nodded, "Could be. It's so rotted that it's hard to be sure."

"That's true. Some of these bodies look like they were killed fairly recently. But, some of these bodies look old, Jack. Really old. They look like they're well preserved."

Jack waved his hand, "The air is dry, feels like a tomb should feel."

"Yeah, it does." Daniel paused next to another shelf, "Look at these, they look like they have no obvious wounds. Disease maybe?"

"Maybe. What about these?" Jack pointed at yet another shelf. "Looks like these were…mauled."

They somberly stared at the torn and smelly remains. Shaking his head, Jack said, "Let's go. I want to know where we are." He flipped the switch on his radio. "Carter, Teal'c come in."

* * *

><p>Sam and Teal'c had been exploring what seemed to have been a control room of some sort at one point or another. Sam slid onto a low stool in front of some sort of control terminal. She adjusted her flashlight. The light flicked off the broken terminal and showed a great deal of shattered power crystals. Nothing she was going to do there.<p>

"Major Carter."

Teal'c's voice drew her attention to the other corner of the room. He was staring at another bank of equipment. He pointed out a set of monitors that were still showing signs of life. He pointed to an image on the monitor. It showed what appeared to be a map. "This appears to be the ring device we activated."

Sam nodded, "Look, there's another ring device. Maybe that's the one the Colonel and Daniel found."

"It is a possibility." Teal'c acknowledged. He shone his light a bit to the left of the monitor and pointed a finger at an object set into the wall. It was a fist sized, multicolored marble. Or at least that was what it looked like.

Sam frowned, "Ever seen anything like that before?"

"I have." Teal'c inclined his head, "But only once. And it was back in the tower."

"The tower here?" Sam was slightly surprised.

"Indeed. It was set into the wall upstairs. I did not think much of it at the time."

"Hm." Sam got closer to the marble, then jumped a bit at a flash of light from the right. Glancing at the map on the way, she saw that the circle representing the second ring device had just lit up. "Look at that! It must have just been activated."

"This technology is advanced, but it is not anything I have seen in use by the Goa'uld."

"Interesting. It's not really like anything I've seen before either. But it's a good product, whoever manufactured it!" She smiled. "I suppose we should try to find our way to that ring platform and see who's coming to visit." Teal'c nodded, but Sam glanced back at the marble device. "I really wish I knew what this did." She reached out her hand and ran her fingers over the device before catching herself. _Good thing the Colonel wasn't around_.

The room was suddenly flooded with a greenish and flickering light with a buzzing noise. Sam glanced around, looking at a handful of dials and images on the wall that were now lighting up like a Christmas tree. "Oh wow."

They were still analyzing the lights and monitors when they heard the Colonel's call. "Sir, we read you. Did you activate a ring platform just a while ago?"

"We did, Major."

"We saw it on some kind of a monitor here. Where are you?"

Jack stepped out into the hall. "Not exactly sure, Carter. We're standing at a long hallway with some less than ornate light fixtures which, incidentally, need new batteries." There was a pause then Carter came back on.

"Sir, we aren't that far away from a long hall of our own." She traced a path from the ring platform that had lit up.

"Might be the same one?"

"Stranger things have happened, sir."

"It'd be a handy coincidence."

"Indeed." Teal'c's voice took over. "O'Neill, I believe I see your lights."

"Great."

"Handy." Daniel agreed, pointing to their right where he could see a flash of light himself.

Jack nodded and they made their way to meet their teammates. A moment later and the four were standing in the hallway comparing notes.

"We've explored four rooms, sir." Carter was explaining, "Two were laboratories of sorts. Lots of broken glass and equipment. They didn't look like they'd been in use for a long time. We just came from a room that had some kind of computer monitors and control boards. Most of it was pretty well destroyed, but one map lit up when the ring device activated. There was a device set in the wall, it looked a bit like a marble…"

"A marble?" Daniel piped up. "Set in the wall, huh?"

Jack peered at him, "Those were _her_ lines. Please be more original."

"There was one of those back in that tower…" Daniel said, undeterred, "I was trying to figure out what it could be when we had to evacuate in a big hurry…" He leveled a slightly accusing glare back at Jack.

Jack shook his head and held up his hand that was still throbbing nicely, thank you. "Hungry monsters, remember? So sorry to have rushed you."

"Anyway." Sam interrupted, "It activated the lights."

"Ah. So that was you." Jack nodded, "Gave us a bit of a start."

"Us too. I don't know what else it does, or did. Everything was fading by the time you called us."

"Low batteries."

"Something like that." Sam nodded. "Anyway, that's about all we got. Nothing else seemed to be operational and there wasn't any loose devices or writings to bring along."

Jack nodded, "Ok. What about the other room you mentioned."

"The other room just looked like a storage room. It was huge, but totally empty, except for rows and rows of huge metal shelves."

"Crap."

Sam's eyes widened at the unexpected outburst from the archeologist. Jack met his unhappy gaze knowingly, only mildly surprised that Daniel had beat him in saying exactly what he'd been about to say. Jack looked back at Sam and Teal'c's questioning frowns. He took a deep breath and briefly explained their grisly discovery.

Sam paled and said, "The room we found must have been prepared for more…bodies."

Jack nodded, "Seems like this place is some sort of…"

"Extermination camp." Daniel said.

Jack looked at him sharply, "We don't know that."

Daniel met his gaze knowingly, "It's what you were thinking."

Jack held his gaze, not even attempting to lie. They all had been thinking it. For a few seconds, there was only silence then Teal'c spoke up, "I have never before seen such a place used by the Goa'uld, nor have I heard of such a place."

"And here I was thinking Hitler'd been a Goa'uld." Jack shook his head. He took a quick glance around the empty hallway and said, "This place just keeps getting worse and worse. All right, anyone seen an exit?"

Sam pointed to the left where they could see a large door at the end of the hall. It was huge and looked like a bank vault door. "That's the only option as far as we've seen."

"Excellent. Let's get to it."

They headed for the door immediately. There really wasn't any need to linger. Their eagerness to leave was slightly stalled when they reached the huge door…to discover it was not going to open without some enthusiastic encouragement. It was of a heavy metal and Jack couldn't help but notice the sudden gleam in Carter's eyes.

He waved a hand, "C4, eh Carter?"

"Sir." She was already reaching for her bag.

Jack waved his hand in the direction of the empty room. "Don't forget to run, Major."

A few minutes later and they were on the other side of the no longer impenetrable door.

"That is a _lot_ of stairs." Sam said once the smoke cleared.

Jack looked over her shoulder and blew out a long whistle. Seems his Major had a touch of Teal'c's knack for understatement. It was beyond a lot of stairs. It was about the longest and steepest staircase he'd ever seen and they couldn't even see the top. He could only hope that the darkness that hid the stairs also hid the exit. Oh his knees were not going to like this at all. _Not at all._

Daniel waved a thumb over his shoulder, "Uh, I'll just go look for the elevators."

Sam flashed him a smile, "Actually, I think we took the 'elevators' in. Teal'c and I couldn't find any way to activate the rings on this side."

"Great." Jack groaned. "We didn't even check."

"I'd be willing to bet it was one way only too." Daniel said, looking around Jack's shoulder, back up at the dark staircase. "The Jaffa probably had the controllers to prevent anyone from trying to leave…"

Jack didn't need to look at his watch to know it was afternoon. It had been a very long 2 days with very little sleep for any of them. They needed a secure place to camp…and get warm. He considered Carter who was unable to hide her shivers. Daniel was disguising it better, but even Jack was freezing. He looked at his team. He hated, hated, the idea of staying in this place even a moment longer, but it was dry and seemed unoccupied. He looked at Daniel and knew that Daniel had considered the same thing. But he also caught the slight shake of his head. No one would get any rest if they stayed down here. Mind made up, Jack adjusted his P90 and pointed his flashlight up the stairs.

"First one up gets first watch."

* * *

><p>When Jack had started up the stairs at a little after 1500, he'd had no idea that he'd be eating heated up MRE's for dinner on those same stairs at 1800. He popped 3 Ibuprofen and downed them with a swallow of water. He didn't care if his team noticed. His legs and knees were screaming and his left hand throbbed enthusiastically. Carter had cleaned it up and rewrapped it when they had decided to call for a break. She was currently huddled between Teal'c and Daniel for warmth. She had been coughing ever since they'd started up the stairs and quite frankly, didn't look good at all.<p>

He didn't like it. They didn't need anyone sick. He shook his head and looked at the rest of his team. Teal'c was also observing Carter with concern, but he himself seemed fine. Daniel was making short work of the handful of books he had salvaged from the tower. He had yet to speak up with any information or details on what he had read. So that meant either he couldn't read any of it, or he could and none of it was important. Even if that were the case, normally he would have been talking about it anyway. Of course, it could just be that he was plain exhausted and out of breath after everything they'd been through so far. No matter what the reason, Jack didn't like the silence.

"Care to share?" He finally ventured. Everyone looked at him in mild surprise. They had been completely silent for about ten minutes while they ate their first hot meal in a day.

Daniel wordlessly held out his bag of M&Ms, attention immediately back on his book. Sam smiled knowingly at Jack. He shrugged and took the M&Ms. That hadn't _exactly_ been what he'd meant, but when Daniel offered candy, he never refused.

"Thanks," he said, "So, finding anything important in those books?"

Daniel shrugged, "Not exactly." He closed the one he'd been reading and picked up his stack. Holding up the top one, he said, "This one, believe it or not, was a trashy romance…"

"So _that's_ why you've been so engrossed…" Jack remarked innocently, throwing another handful of M&Ms in his mouth.

Daniel glared at him and dropped the book to the step below.

"Ya sure you're not gonna want that later? I'm _so_ not coming back for it."

Daniel ignored him, "These are useless, but interesting works of literature from whatever culture was once here. And this one," he waved the one he'd been reading last. "This is a personal journal of one of the people here. It's hard to decipher, but I think it is the only one that will be of any use."

Jack nodded, "Great. One book is a lot lighter to lug around."

Daniel nodded absently.

Sighing, Jack said, "Right. Shall we?" he motioned up the seemingly endless staircase. "I don't relish the thought of sleeping on these stairs." He received nods from all concerned parties and they packed in the gear. He accepted Daniel's hand to pull him to his feet, grateful that Carter's coughing covered up his attempt to muffle his inadvertent groan. Jack shook his head at Daniel's concerned glance. He really hoped there was an end to the staircase.

* * *

><p>There <em>was an<em> end to the stairs and they stumbled into it nearly an hour later. It was another massive vault-like door. He leaned heavily against the wall, trying to catch his breath. "C4?"

Teal'c nodded.

Jack glanced down the stairs and called out, "Stay put. We got another door to blow."

He caught Daniel's nod of acknowledgement, then pulled out a charge and handed it to Teal'c. Teal'c started prepping the door as Jack made his painful way back down the stairs to join Sam and Daniel. Sam had been putting a valiant effort into keeping up, but it was clear she was really starting to struggle with the exertion. Over the last hour she had fallen farther and farther behind, Daniel slowing his own pace to assist her. Jack joined them and found Sam seated, head bowed, coughing muffled in her sleeve. Daniel wiped the sweat off his face and leaned back against the wall. Jack copied his stance. _To sit down now would be to never rise again._ A moment later and Teal'c joined them. Jack hoped they were far enough away not to get killed by the blast, but he really didn't think he could go down any more steps and try to get back up them again.

The concussion from the blast left their ears ringing, but the debris was minimal. Dragging themselves up past that door was a test of endurance and blind faith. They were all hoping that there was something better on the other side. Teal'c shoved the heavy door aside and they found themselves in a square room about 20x20 feet. It clearly had been some sort of a guard station. There were several cots, some assorted furniture, a fireplace, and two open doorways. Across the room, on the far wall, was yet another heavy vault like door. Apparently someone felt that this place needed some security. They immediately separated and began a quick survey of the room. One of the other doorways led to a small lavatory, the other to a good sized supply room littered with equipment. There were some maps and other paperwork that Daniel was instantly lost in. They didn't find any food or anything else of use except for some rather ratty old blankets. Jack found the far vault-like door securely bolted and left it that way. After about ten minutes of searching, he turned around to face his team.

"Make yourselves at home, kids. We find out what's behind door number 3 in the morning."

No one offered any protest. They were all exhausted and Carter was clearly miserable. They were out of the rain and relatively safe for now and soon to be warm. Jack eased himself down on one of the cots that Teal'c had dragged over in front of the fireplace. Sam quickly joined him, leaning forward to get closer to the rosy fire Teal'c had already started. Daniel wasn't far behind, bringing an armload of books and papers and dropping to the floor next to the fireplace, leaning back against the wall.  
>Jack busied himself with getting some coffee started. Teal'c finished nursing the fire to perfection, then rose to do another careful exam of the room. He wasn't gone long. He had taken the time to close the door that led from the staircase, securing the latch as well as he was able. Jack passed a mug of steaming coffee into Sam's icy cold hands.<p>

"Thanks, sir."

"You're welcome." Jack took a sip of his own coffee and asked her, "Are you ok?"

She nodded, but couldn't help the burst of coughing that followed. After a moment she said, "I think I'm just coming down with a cold."

Jack nodded, still concerned. He looked at Teal'c who had knelt next to him with a map. Teal'c spread it out and Jack leaned closer to look over it as well. Clearly marked was the tower and wall that they had started at. The map showed what once had been a valley and now there was a huge flooded ocean. They could see the path they had attempted to follow and there once had been a bridge spanning the river. The two ring platforms were not shown on the map, but apparently the structure they were in currently was listed on the map. There was, or had been, some sort of a settlement outside the room they were in. At least a dozen other buildings were arranged in an organized manner with streets leading back to the river and up to the castle. Over the next ½ hour or so, Jack and Teal'c looked over the map and discussed their plans for the next day.

Sam tried to keep up with their conversation, but her brain felt numb, her body ached from the climb up the stairs, her head was pounding and her throat was sore. Nothing had gone right from the start of this mission and she really wanted to cry. _And it's not even that time of the month._ She sipped morosely at her coffee, grateful for its warmth and that of the fire. She was strongly considering taking the other cot and falling asleep ASAP. The Colonel and Teal'c were still laying out battle plans, so she glanced over at Daniel.

She couldn't help but smile. He had leaned sideways against the edge of the fireplace and was sound asleep with an open book still held in his hands. Even as her own eyes started closing of their own volition, she wondered what was bothering him. Teal'c had been right; he did seem to be more withdrawn and focused on work to the exclusion of all else again. Blinking, Sam rubbed her eyes and downed another gulp of coffee. She knew she'd been distant herself lately and engrossed in her work more than usual. The situation with Orlin had left her confused in so many ways. Not just because it seemed like everyone doubted her or because of the invasions of her privacy, but Orlin's interest in her had also shaken her. It made her remember some things she hadn't thought about in a very long time. A pink doll house. A cabbage patch baby doll. A tea set. Making cookies with her mom. Memories of being a little girl dressing up in white, pretending to get married, then playing house.

Once upon a time, all she'd ever wanted was to be a wife and a mother. When exactly had that changed? Sure, she'd been way smart as a kid, even when sitting at her little table she had enjoyed teaching math to her stuffed animals. So it wasn't just her mom's death that had pushed her into academia and the military. No, she had been on that path even before. As often as she wore her mom's veil, she had built cardboard space shuttles with Mark and piloted them to the far reaches of the galaxy. Sighing, she couldn't figure out how she'd gotten onto this train of thought or where the train was even going. She just wanted off.

She was shaken out of her reverie by a hand on her shoulder and Jack's soft voice, "Carter. Go get some sleep. Teal'c won and he's taking first watch. You're falling asleep in front of my eyes."

She started to protest, but he shook his head.

"Daniel didn't even have the grace to give the impression that he was trying to stay awake, he just went and fell asleep." Jack stood up and pointed at the cot. "You. Here. Now. And that's an order, Major."

Sam smiled, and handed him her empty cup. "Yes, sir. Thanks."

"Night, Major." Jack nodded. He paced the room for a few minutes after she lay down. Already his body was stiff and sore. It was only going to feel worse come morning. He glanced at Sam who was already asleep, curled up, but no longer shivering. Teal'c was still analyzing the maps he had found and Daniel was starting to stir. Jack glanced at his watch; he'd only been asleep for about twenty minutes. Jack sat down on the sill of the fireplace and watched as Daniel opened his eyes and glanced around the room.

He rubbed his eyes and looked up at Jack, "What's going on?"

"You were getting a little rest."

Daniel frowned and looked at his watch. "It's so quiet."

"Yes." Jack agreed, "That's generally how it gets when people are sleeping." Jack said, although in Daniel's case, he knew, quite often the opposite was true. Daniel often found peace enough to sleep amid a troubled time only when he was around the team. For as long as Jack had known him, when stressed, lost in an important project, dealing with a traumatic event, or drowning in a grief so desperate it nearly destroyed him, sleep was the first thing Daniel dropped from his to do list. But it seldom failed that if they were gathered together eating pizza at someone's house, Daniel would eventually fall asleep, surrounded by familiar voices and activities.

His voice broke into Jack's thoughts, "Sorry, Jack. I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"Relax. Teal'c's on watch." Jack leaned over with his elbows on his knees and lowered his voice even more, indicating Carter with a nod of his head. "Carter can take last watch. I think she's feeling pretty lousy. You want to flip a coin for second or third watch?"

Daniel shook his head, "No, no you go ahead. I'll take watch after Teal'c. I want to keep digging through this stuff and see if…"

"Daniel." Jack sounded stressed.

"Jack." Daniel looked at him steadily.

"Daniel, it will keep."

"What if it won't?"

"Paper gonna self-destruct in thirty seconds or something?"

"Funny. No, I actually meant that there might be something important in this stuff to explain where we are and what we can do to get out of here."

"Things I would dearly love to know, don't get me wrong. But if you fall over from exhaustion tomorrow, that's not gonna be very convenient, have to tell ya."

Daniel sighed heavily and carelessly tossed the book aside. He closed his eyes and folded his arms over his chest.

Even though he was mildly surprised at how easily he'd won that argument, Jack shook his head, "Take the other cot."

"No, help yourself. I'll be up in two hours anyway. When you take over, it will be warmed up nicely for me, thanks." Daniel smiled just slightly, not bothering to open his eyes.

Jack snorted and rose, "Go to sleep, Daniel."

"Sleeping, Jack."


	6. Chapter 6

0700

The night passed uneventfully; the silence broken only by Carter's occasional coughing, the crackling of the fire or someone putting another log on the fire. Daniel found that he had been just exhausted enough to sleep like the dead which had been a refreshing change. He stayed huddled under the blanket, a blanket that did not really smell very good at all, for a while after he woke up. He contemplated the events of the past few days. He thought back to their excitement when they had first encountered the Kamyen Obyet and found them open to trade negotiations. It felt like it had been a very long time since they had been able to help anyone or do anything positive for their _own_ planet. Of course it just _felt _that way, he realized, thinking back. They'd been able to help the mysterious "Lt. Tyler" of the _Reol _people. That had been a small thing, but it had been huge to Tyler. And maybe, just maybe, somewhere down the road, it would benefit them too.

And since when had saving one life not been a good thing?

Daniel shook his head. He was letting his focus get screwed up. But it was easy to do after all the near disasters they'd experienced. Looking back, he knew he was seeing only the bad instead of the good. When had that started? When had he started looking at everything with such a gloomy perspective? A long time ago…maybe even a few lifetimes ago, he'd been optimistic and eager to conquer the world. The _ancient_ world, maybe, but he had wanted to share his knowledge and the wonders of that world with others. But that was so long ago and he'd been hit with so many things over the past years that he wasn't exactly sure if he could ever find that enthusiasm again. He sighed. So what did he really want anyway?

To leave?

No, he really didn't want to leave; at least not for the most part. He loved the amazing experience that the SGC was, he thrived on the excitement and the opportunity to discover new worlds and find links to the ancient world that he'd always loved. He had a family again for the first time in many, many years. It hadn't been an easy process, necessarily, but he and the team were closer than he'd been to anyone except Sha're. So he really wasn't looking to leave his family or his work.

He frowned. That all said, he was still feeling confused, out of place, and at a loss for why exactly. Why was he so discontent? Thinking harder and looking deeper, Daniel couldn't really come up with an answer. All he knew was that for so long now that he couldn't remember when it had started, he had been feeling lost. A careful analysis revealed no concrete reason that he should be feeling that way. But it didn't change the fact that most days, he really didn't want to even bother getting up in the morning.

* * *

><p>Jack had slept lightly, but at least he could say he'd actually gotten some rest. He had been exhausted enough to shut down his mind temporarily. Now, he found himself not wanting to move a muscle. And the key reason for that was because <em>all<em> of his muscles were currently aching. So he remained still. Carter was in the next room, he could just make out her shape, moving around the equipment and trying to decipher the alien objects. Teal'c was sitting across the room, in Kel'no'reem and Daniel was still hiding under his covers. But he wasn't asleep and hadn't been for a while.

Jack could hear him thinking from clear across the room.

He watched him shake his head, eyes still closed. Jack almost smiled, wondering what on earth he was thinking about. Then he watched him frown, and Jack frowned too, finding his thoughts drawn back to the mystery of what could be bothering his friend. Thinking back over the past few months, to the past few years…there was no shortage of things that could have been bothering him. But things had seemed to have been going fine as of late. Sure, there had been moments right from the start where he and Daniel hadn't seen eye to eye and had done a great deal of arguing. But that was the thing about them. They argued and then they got past it. Never had they argued or fought and just walked away from one another.

Even during the fiasco a few years ago with the undercover mission Jack had ended up taking on, they had fought it out and fixed it in one sitting. Lingering feelings of betrayal and anger hadn't lingered long after the evening Jack had gotten back. The entire team had gone to his place and they'd had an evening of something Jack would _never_ admit had been group therapy. After Teal'c and Sam had left, Jack and Daniel had had the argument that Jack had been expecting from the beginning. But it hadn't been as bad as he'd expected, though Daniel _had_ been angry. Turned out most of his anger wasn't really directed at Jack. Other than a few other spectacular brouhahas over the past 2 years, their friendship had been solid. Something they both counted on in an otherwise uncertain life. So Jack decided it probably wasn't any issue between them that was bothering Daniel.

But there _had_ been a lot of uncertainty lately. The episode with Apophis and Teal'c had shaken them all and the uncertainty from that mess still lingered. Trauma like that didn't just go away. As well as Teal'c tried to hide it, Jack knew he hadn't ceased to blame himself and berate himself for all the things he had done and said while subject to Apophis' brainwashing. So maybe that was it? Was that whole mess still bothering Daniel? Jack sighed softly. He was just going to have to ask if he was ever going to know. But he wasn't ready to do so just yet.

Jack decided now was as good as any time to start moving. Gritting his teeth, he realized that he was every bit as sore and stiff as he had feared he would be. Everything hurt; his knees most of all. About the only positive aspect of the day so far was that he was warm and dry. Pushing himself into a sitting position and easing his legs over the edge of the cot, he considered it to be a minor victory when he got all the way up without groaning in pain. Of course, it took all of his control to keep quiet.

"Sore?" Daniel's quite voice broke into his thoughts.

"Oh yes." He figured there was no point in lying.

"Do I want to get up?"

"Probably not."

Daniel nodded. "I didn't think so. If I hold completely still I don't notice that every muscle in my body is on fire."

"You get any sleep?"

"Actually, yes. You?"

"Yep."

"Sam?" Daniel asked, looking around only as far as he could see without lifting his head.

Jack motioned to the other room. "She's shopping in the next room."

"Ah." Daniel finally eased himself out of his cocoon and found that he could really use some Tylenol. He grimaced and looked for his pack. "Tylenol for breakfast?"

"Absolutely." Jack matched his grimace as he stood gingerly to stretch out a bit. He saw that Teal'c was beginning to stir in his corner. "Guess we could have some actual breakfast with that breakfast."

"Sounds good." Daniel nodded, "I'll start the coffee."

* * *

><p>Over breakfast, they made plans for the day ahead. Teal'c and Jack had finalized their battle plan the night before. After eating, they packed up the basic gear that they would need, but left the rest of their gear in the safety of the bunker. The day lay ahead full of uncertainty, but they had to start somewhere and their first step was simply to see what was lurking behind door number three.<p>

"Sunshine and a beach." Jack said as Teal'c slid the heavy bolts open.

"In your dreams, sir." Sam smiled.

Jack nodded, "Quite frequently actually. Maui, sometimes Tahiti, always with this girl and a tray of…" He broke off as Teal'c opened the door to reveal…

"Ah. Surprise."

Daniel looked over Jack's shoulder. "Rain."

"Swell." Jack grumbled. "Did no one think to check the weather report? Carter, what is up with this weather?"

Sam raised her eyebrows, "Uh, I have no idea, sir." She pulled her hat down a bit farther and said, "It certainly seems unusual…but then again…"

"I know, I know…alien planet."

"You know, I just thought of something."

Jack turned and gave Daniel a dirty look. "Didja now?"

"I was just thinking about that marble thing, remember back in the tower, and then in the control room you and Teal'c found?" Daniel looked at Sam who nodded. "Well, I just remembered that I was looking at the one in the tower when the rain started…"

"You touched it." Jack accused.

"I did not." Daniel said, quickly going on before Jack could get his next line in, "I'm wondering if they are some sort of a visual interface of some sort."

"Like a security camera?" Sam inquired.

"That's what I'm wondering. Maybe they automatically activate a visual monitor."

"What's that got to do with this?" Jack asked, waving his thumb out the door.

Daniel shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe nothing."

"What could _possibly_ be the purpose of a device that turns on the lights in one area and a torrential downpour over the entire planet?"

"I have no idea."

"But you have a point." Sam piped up, eager to lend support. "It does seem as though the devices are part of some sort of a monitoring system."

"So who's 'big brother'?" Jack asked with air quotes.

They all looked at each other with a shared sense of dread. Jack finally shook his head, "Never mind. We'll meet him. If our luck stays true to form and he's a maniacal Goa'uld…we'll meet him."

"So, onward?" Daniel asked.

"Onward."

Despite the fact that they had been out of the rain for hours and were finally dry, even Teal'c looked less than happy about the torrential downpour outside. Jack studied the area more closely. They faced some sort of a courtyard with various buildings and overgrown paths. They had reviewed the map over breakfast and made their plans. So there was nothing left to do but go.

"Ok. Just like we said, we divide and scout the perimeter. Once we've got an idea of what's out here, we start checking into the buildings. Teal'c, west, Carter north, Daniel east. I'll head south. Radio check every five minutes. Stay sharp."

Everyone nodded and headed in their assigned direction. Jack turned and circled to the left of the bunker they had spent the night in. It was unmarked and uninteresting from outside. Square and made of some sort of concrete. Jack realized that it was a good three feet larger on the outside. Meaning it was well designed to stand up to the elements. _Or attack._ Beyond the building, Jack saw only trees and no path. He headed off into the woods anyway. After about twenty minutes of scouting, he started to notice some disturbingly large footprints here and there. Thumb on his radio, he was about to warn the others, when someone beat him to it.

"Guys." Daniel called, "I found a building with a lot of equipment, but I also see evidence of some large animal."

"As do I." Teal'c jumped in before Jack could. "The creature is large and appears to be a scavenger."

"Copy that." Sam called in, causing Jack to stare at his radio and wonder why he was so slow today. "I don't see any evidence here. In fact, I've got nothing but trees."

Jack waited a full two seconds after Carter's call to speak up. Finally he could get _his_ word in edgewise, "Carter, meet Daniel and check out that equipment. Be careful." Jack instructed. "Teal'c, I'm headed your way." He got the expected acknowledgements and turned to continue his perimeter sweep toward the Jaffa's position.

* * *

><p>It didn't take Sam long to find the building that Daniel was exploring. He had set up his extra flashlight on a long table just inside the door and was currently digging around under said table. Sam sloshed in, shaking her head and sending sprays of water around. She glanced around the dim room, noting that it was full of equipment, some of it appearing very old, and some of it looking as good as new. Most of the room was trashed, apparently by the unknown animals. There were rather disturbingly large claw marks visible on the wooden table and on the walls.<p>

"Uh, Daniel?" Sam crouched down, "Afraid of an earthquake?"

She winced as Daniel smacked his head on the table as he crawled out. He looked at her in confusion. "Earthquake? What? I didn't feel anything." He dumped an armful of paraphernalia on the table. Sam opened her mouth to explain what she'd meant, but it was obvious that Daniel was already on to other projects and not at all concerned about an earthquake.

Instead, she asked, "What have you got?"

He shrugged, "Not sure. A lot of odds and ends. There was obviously an advanced race here at some point." He waved at some of the equipment. "This stuff looks like some of the Tollan technology." Sam examined a small silver device and nodded. Daniel continued, "But some of it is just plain low tech and of a completely different design." He held up a simple wooden object with an ornate pattern on it. "This whole place, even back at the tower, it just seems like two distinct cultures were here at the same time, but I don't really see evidence of them interacting or influencing one another, which is odd."

Sam frowned, "What's so odd about that? Aren't most places comprised of elements of multiple cultures and…"

"Yes, yes…but typically cultures influence one another to some degree. Even in highly segregated places, inevitably there will be some mixing of the technology, the writing, the lifestyles." Daniel interrupted, pacing the room, "Here, it almost looks like the more technological culture just vanished. Like it suddenly ceased to exist and this second culture," he held up another simple wooden tool, "just moved in on top of it all. Took over the area, but didn't, or couldn't use the equipment."

Sam nodded, looking over the room again. "Ok, so that tells us what? Tormic told you this guy who tried to subvert the Kamyen Obyet people started sending them through the portal, never to return. They weren't a very technologically advanced people at that time, right?"

Daniel nodded.

Sam continued, "Yet the portal and a lot of the equipment back there seemed very advanced. Some of it looked Tollan." She broke off with a coughing spell that left her a bit breathless. Daniel studied her in concern and waited until she nodded that she was ok before he spoke up.

"Ok. So somewhere these are connected."

"Somehow."

"Right." He started to pace again. "So maybe the low-tech stuff is from the Kamyen

Obyet people who were forced here."

"That makes sense."

Daniel shrugged, "About as much sense as anything I guess."

"Does any of it _look_ like the stuff you saw back on Kamyen Obyet?" Sam asked, turning a small wooden box over in her hands."

"I can't say for sure. Most of what I saw was more modern then all of this. They had more in common with the Tollan than with what we're seeing here." He looked at another pattern on a hammer-like tool. "Of course, I suppose it is possible that they had stuff like this in a museum or something. These patterns are vaguely Russian in style."

"Which matches up with the Kamyen Obyet." Sam said, "They were speaking a form of Russian."

Daniel nodded, "So these could very well be from the people who were sent here years ago."

For a moment, they silently considered the room. A sound from the woods caught their attention and they looked at each other in concern.

"What was that?" Sam headed toward the door.

"I don't know…but it sounded a little too much like a hungry wild animal."

* * *

><p>Jack hadn't been rushing to meet up with Teal'c, but when he first heard the low howl out in the woods, he decided to jog just a bit more enthusiastically. After several minutes, he hit the radio, "Teal'c. Come in."<p>

"O'Neill."

"Where are you?"

"I have moved several yards northwest, following a trail."

"Carter, Daniel. Heads up. I'm hearing suspicious growling from the woods."

"Sir, we were just going to call you." Carter sounded a bit worried, "We're hearing them too. From the east."

"Great. Big bad wolf…wolves, out on the prowl." Jack broke into a run, "Eyes open, people. Teal'c…." Jack broke off as he heard a loud thud to his left. Skidding to a stop, he had his P90 at the ready as he looked into the rainy gloom. He wasn't surprised to see a pair of shining red eyes observing him from 20 yards away.

Ok, maybe he was mildly surprised the eyes were _red_, but that was it.

"O'Neill?" Teal'c's voice sounded over the radio.

"Everyone, I just met the wolf. Not lookin' very friendly…." Again, he didn't finish his statement because at that moment, he heard a sudden howl from behind him as another beast came pounding toward him.

* * *

><p>"Colonel!" Sam exclaimed, hearing his transmission abruptly cut off, followed by the sound of gunfire. She was half-way across the courtyard when Teal'c called in.<p>

"I will be with Colonel O'Neill shortly. Seek refuge, Major Carter." Then he was gone as well.

Sam frantically looked around the square, seeking any attacking creatures or a safe place to go. All the buildings she could see were dilapidated or had open windows. Nothing seemed very defensible. She realized the bunker was the only chance.

"Daniel! We have to…"

"Sam! Get down!"

Daniel's shout interrupted her and allowed for no arguments. She flattened herself on the ground, seeing him raise his P90 and fire off at something behind her. A second later, she was shocked to see something huge and white land a few feet in front of her. Raising her head, she instantly assessed the creature. It was about the height of a greyhound, but built more like a buffalo. It was a startling white, despite being rather filthy and splattered with blood. Daniel wasn't at all a bad shot, so she knew full well that most, if not all of his bullets had hit the monster.

_For all the good that did_, she thought with sickening fear.

Daniel was backing away, still firing, but the creature wasn't falling over. It was just stalking forward toward him without any obvious distress. Sam jumped to her feet just in time to see another white blur running up behind Daniel. Firing instinctively, she screamed out a warning. Before Daniel had any chance to react, the creature slammed its beefy shoulder into him, sending him flying several feet to land in a heap near a low wall.

Sam ran forward, shouting and firing at the first creature, still the closer one. Both creatures seemed to take notice of her now and turned to face her. She could see that her bullets were impacting; little spurts of blood were appearing on their white coats, but it wasn't slowing them down any that she could tell. She stopped firing as she studied the creatures. Far to the north she could hear more gunfire.

The two creatures licked their fangs and slowly began sauntering toward her. Frantically, she looked beyond them, trying to see Daniel. He was moving, very slowly, but moving and she breathed out a sigh of relief. A second later, she saw him push himself over the low wall.

"Sam. Grenade." Came his gasping voice over the radio. He was waving a grenade in his left hand. She nodded and got ready to run behind the nearest building. He threw the grenade a second later and she dove for cover.

* * *

><p>Teal'c reached O'Neill's position just as the second creature broke through the trees. He fired his staff weapon at it and the creature dodged the blast expertly. It gave O'Neill enough time to dodge the other direction, though, and avoid the attack. He concentrated his fire on the first creature while Teal'c circled behind him and headed for the second one. The creatures were both ferocious and clever. Not to mention fast. He had struck the creature with at least one blast, but it seemed to have been only a glancing blow.<p>

He heard the continuous firing from O'Neill's P90 and knew the beasts were not going to be easy to kill. Teal'c saw O'Neill scrambling backwards from the first creature, but he couldn't do anything about that because the other creature was charging at him from the left. Raising his staff weapon again, Teal'c fired off several repeated shots. One caught the wolf-like creature on the shoulder, sending it stumbling into the dirt. Immediately, Teal'c fired again as he stalked toward the wounded animal. The creature was attempting to continue to walk and it was growling, not whimpering from the pain.

It took nine more blasts before the creature was nothing more than a charred heap of smoking flesh. Teal'c only hesitated long enough to be 100% certain that it was dead before he ran toward O'Neill to offer his assistance.

Jack had been firing everything he had, but it wasn't slowing the creature down any. He lost sight of Teal'c in the rain, but heard the staff blasting again and again. Fervently hoping the staff weapon was more effective than his P90 seemed to be, Jack found himself backed against a tree with an empty clip and no time to reload. He gripped his knife and let it fly. It buried itself to the hilt in the creature's neck.

It didn't even slow the creature down.

Thankfully, a staff blast from the right sent the animal sprawling, and then growling in Teal'c's direction. Jack took the momentary reprieve to load a new clip. As soon as he had done that, he began firing and advancing on the creature from behind while Teal'c approached from ahead. After a moment, the creature dropped dead.

Jack and Teal'c circled it warily. "What are they? Naquadah enhanced wolverines?"

Teal'c started to speak at the exact moment they heard a distant explosion. They turned as one and Jack immediately hit the radio button. "Carter! Daniel, report!"

They got no reply and neither was in any mood to stand around waiting. Taking off at a run, Jack hoped they weren't too late. Unfortunately, they _were_ too late.

In fact, they were not going to make it at all.


	7. Chapter 7

Daniel pushed himself up on badly shaking arms. He fell sideways against the low wall, still gasping painfully for a breath. When that creature had barreled into him, he had clung to consciousness by sheer determination. His entire body throbbed, especially his left side. He wanted to try to see if any ribs were cracked, but at the moment he was just counting his blessings that he was keeping his eyes open. Not that he was really seeing anything except dark spots at the moment. He tasted blood and raised a shaking hand to his mouth. It came away bloody and further examination showed that his nose was bleeding too. He couldn't hear anything except a distant buzzing and, honestly, he wasn't even quite sure he remembered where he was or what had been happening. What he _did_ remember was a rather distinct sense of urgency and panic, so he figured he'd better try again to move.

By now, he was able to breathe more or less normally. That was about all that had improved so far. He managed to get on his hands and knees long enough to reach up a hand and pull himself up to peer over the wall. He found himself looking at a rather large blast zone of rubble and shredded bloody flesh. Whether it was from the unholy stench of the burning flesh, or the lingering effects from the force of the blast, Daniel wasn't sure, but he found himself back on his hands and knees losing his breakfast.

* * *

><p>Sam had run behind a convenient building and kept running as she heard the blast. Dirt sprayed up at the far corner she had rounded, debris striking her on the back. She paused, gun at the ready lest either of the creatures make it around the corner. After thirty seconds, she cautiously made her way back around the corner to the open area where the heavily falling rain was helping to disperse the rising smoke from the explosion. Crossing her fingers mentally that the two monsters were dead, and praying fervently that Daniel <em>wasn't, <em>she took several steps closer, each footstep sloshing in the mud. Immediately, the overpowering smell of burned flesh hit her like a hot wave. The sight of white fur and bloody entrails spread before her left her hopeful that both creatures were dead.

Just as she allowed that thought to enter her head, a terrible shriek came from off to her right. Turning instinctively, she saw one of the monsters stalking toward her. Well, stalking might have been a generous description. The creature was limping, dragging one leg behind it, another bloody limb barely supporting its weight. It had clearly been torn apart by the blast, but hadn't been close enough to be killed outright. Sam raised her P90 and fired at it without hesitation. It still took a disconcertingly long time for the creature to fall, but it did and Sam took a deep breath and watched warily as its breathing slowed and finally stopped.

She felt some relief knowing the two animals were dead, but she still hadn't seen any sign of Daniel yet. She headed toward the wall, calling out his name. As she got closer, she could hear retching. Hurrying over to the wall, she jumped over it and instantly her concern jumped up a notch at his appearance. He was white as a sheet, except for all the blood over his face. He was on his hands and knees, eyes closed, clearly having just thrown up everything he'd eaten.

"Daniel." Sam knelt in the mud next to him, gently rubbing his back.

It took a moment, but he finally whispered her name.

"Yeah, it's me." She replied, pulling out a handkerchief and gently wiping his face. After a moment, she helped ease him back against the wall, noting with concern his groan of pain when his back hit the wall. As soon as he was settled, she rose up and took a rapid assessment of the area. Seeing no threats, she tried to contact the Colonel and Teal'c. Getting no reply, Sam felt her worry increase but there was little she could do for them at the moment and she had an injured teammate she needed to take care of right now.

She crouched down in front of Daniel, relieved to see that his eyes were at least opened. She smiled at him and touched his cheek gently, "Daniel, how are you doing?"

"My ears are ringing and I feel like I was hit by a car. Are you ok?"

"I'm ok, thanks to you twice over. Good timing with the grenade."

"Anytime." He managed a small smile.

Sam offered him a canteen. "Think you can keep some water down?"

He accepted the canteen wordlessly and rinsed out his mouth, spitting into the muck next to him. Sam pushed the canteen back to him as he tried to give it to her. "Drink a little."

"Not sure I can keep it down at the moment, Sam."

She nodded and set it aside, looking closely at his eyes. "Daniel, did you hit your head?"

"Think so." He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall.

"Looks like you hit it face first in fact. Doesn't look like your nose is broken." She studied him assessingly, "You're going to wind up with some spectacular bruises, though."

He sighed and said softly, "That's not the only place that's going to be bruised."

"Your back?"

"Yeah. What happened?"

Sam frowned, "You don't remember?"

"Bits and pieces." He smiled slightly, "All a bit fuzzy at the moment."

"You probably have a concussion."

"I don't think so. Just got bashed a bit."

Sam was dubious, but she didn't argue. She was increasingly concerned about the lack of contact with the others and the continued gunfire in the distance. Sam glanced at her watch. It had only been about fifteen minutes since the attack had started. They were not in a very defensible place. "Daniel, I think we should head back to the bunker. Do you think you can move?"

Before he could answer, they heard a growl rising up from the direction of the aforementioned bunker. He looked at her, "Oh, I can definitely move."

Sam nodded as he pushed himself shakily to his feet. "We're gonna have to circle a bit to the southeast to avoid more of our friends. I found some more wrecked buildings to the east, but I don't know what all is over there…"

She was cut off by a not so distant howl. They looked over to their right and saw another large white blur running toward them.

* * *

><p>Jack saw it out of the corner of his eye just before it hit Teal'c. The Jaffa went down like a ton of bricks, his staff weapon flying out of his hand and landing several feet away. Jack skidded to a stop, slipping in the mud and landing heavily on his right hip. He raised his P90 and fired at the creature as Teal'c tried to push himself to his feet. Even as Jack tried to circle the creature to retrieve the staff weapon, the creature seemed to recognize what he was attempting to do. It glared at him malevolently with those otherworldly red eyes. Jack was suddenly struck by the thought that these could be the <em>Sha<em> creatures that Teal'c and Daniel had been talking about…had it only been the day before? The thought that Daniel would have been proud of him for actually remembering the name of the beast flew through his mind, frantically chased out by the thought that he'd better focus on killing it rather than marvel at the mythology behind it.

Leaving Teal'c, it ran toward Jack. Jack had to run backwards and was barely able to avoid a swinging claw. The fact that the only thing that had seemed to make a dent in the creatures was the staff weapon was not encouraging to Jack at that moment. He couldn't see if Teal'c was moving and, at the moment, he couldn't do much but dodge the creature. Jack knew he was nearly out of rounds and, sure enough, he ran out just as the animal jumped at him. Holding up the P90 was the only thing that kept Jack from a face-full of very large teeth. The creature bit down on the gun as Jack held it braced in both hands across his body.

Which was all fine and good, Jack thought, but it wasn't really a long term solution.

He flinched as the animals hot breath blew in his face and a drop of saliva smacked him on the cheek. Struggling with all his strength, Jack realized he could hear a staff weapon charging. Grateful for the assistance from Teal'c, he wasn't quite prepared for a very heavy animal to collapse on top of him. Thankful the monster was dead, Jack still felt the breath squeezed out of him when 300 some pounds landed on him. He couldn't move or even take a deep breath.

Even as he was trying desperately to suck in even a tiny breath, he could hear the thudding of heavy footfalls. Just how many of these _Sha _were there anyway? Giving up on hoping for a hand from Teal'c, Jack pushed hard against the filthy fur, realizing the Jaffa must be fighting another beast. He breathlessly worked to extricate himself while anxiously listening blindly to more staff blasts and more howls. There was suddenly a sickening crack.

Jack heard an exclamation of pain and he redoubled his efforts to get the dead animal off of himself. The sound of vicious mauling gave him the extra adrenaline needed to lever the creature over to the side. The slick mushy mud underneath him was suddenly a blessing in disguise as it had helped him squeeze out from under the creature. Sucking in a deep breath, Jack saw the staff weapon a few feet away, broken cleanly in two. He grabbed it anyway, hoping that it might still fire at least one more blast. If it didn't, he would soon be dead and so would Teal'c. He couldn't see much of his friend, but what he did see was bloody and still. He primed the weapon and fired. The _Sha_ spun, blood dripping from its fangs and approached Jack menacingly, but with a definite limp. Jack wasn't going to stop firing until the weapon melted in his hands…or the animal dropped.

* * *

><p>"Go, go!" Sam shouted, shoving Daniel ahead of her, sending him around the far side of a building while she lobbed a grenade over her shoulder at the creature. They rounded another corner and were distressed to see the creature had backtracked and cut them off. "Crap!" She exclaimed, prepping another grenade. The only problem was that she didn't see any cover. Daniel had his P90 trained in the general direction of the creature, but from the way he was squinting, it didn't look like he'd be able to hit it.<p>

Sam frantically looked around while the creature seemed to be patiently preparing for its next assault. Uncertainty and weariness clouded her mind, but she knew she had to make a decision. She saw a building several yards away, it was at least three stories tall with several small windows. "Daniel head for that building now! We've got to get on top."

She started firing at the creature as Daniel instantly took off at a run. She jogged backwards, noting with some satisfaction that the creature did seem to be faltering under the constant barrage. A glance over her shoulder showed that Daniel was halfway up the building. She hollered at him, "Get on the roof and cover me while I climb!"

Soon, she was standing directly below the lowest window. The animal was hesitating a good ten yards away, pausing to lick its wounds. "Ok, Sam!" Daniel called down, leaning over the edge of the roof, gun at the ready. Sam immediately turned and started up the wall. The first part was easy enough, even with sporadic gunfire above her head. She heard the animal growling and stalking ever closer. Making it past the second story window, she was feeling like she stood a chance. Then she heard the disconcerting sound of a P90 with an empty clip.

"Hurry, Sam!" Daniel's concerned warning destroyed the rest of her feelings of confidence. "It's getting too close!"

Grabbing the lower edge of the top window, Sam felt an impact below her and hot breath on her ankles. She frantically launched herself up to grab the top edge of the window. Daniel was leaning over the edge with his right arm extended to hers. She could hear him urging her to hurry and saw the fear in his eyes and strain on his face. Just as she reached up, feet braced in the edges of the window, she felt something hit the building and felt the hot breath again. Before she realized fully what had happened, the creature had sunk its teeth into her pants, throwing her completely off balance. A flash of panic hit her as she felt herself falling backwards unable to regain a hand hold. Then she realized she wasn't going anywhere after all.

The rip of fabric from her pant leg was followed slightly by an agonized shout of pain and a startling popping noise. Instead of falling to the ground, she found herself suspended in air. She looked up and saw Daniel clinging to the straps on her pack with single-minded determination. Immediately, Sam reached up to the top of the window again and Daniel helped pull her up over the edge of the roof. Once she was on the roof, she turned around and looked down, pulling a grenade out. The creature was lying at the base of the building, not looking very healthy at all. Sam dropped the grenade without any hesitation and threw herself away from the edge.

The explosion rattled the building and her teeth, but the building remained standing. Sucking in a breath of relief, Sam turned to thank Daniel, only to feel her relief ebb yet again.

"Daniel!" She hurried to his side, alarmed to see him laying crumpled on his left side, clutching his right arm, acute pain written all over his face. "Daniel, what is it?" she knelt next to him, afraid to touch him.

He gasped, "Shoulder."

She looked at the arm he was holding tightly to his chest and realized what had happened. "Is it dislocated?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry, Daniel!" He had taken all her weight when she'd lost her grip and almost fallen.

"It's okay." He said through gritted teeth, "You're gonna have to reset it."

"I know. I'm sorry." Sam repeated, then bit her lip. It wasn't the first time she'd had to reset a dislocated shoulder. And Janet had given her some pointers on the process, so she knew she could and _had_ to do it. The sooner the better. "Can you lie on your back?"

Daniel obliged wordlessly. Sam knelt beside him and didn't drag the process out, but got right to it. By the time she was done, Daniel had bit his lip hard enough it bled. She used her sleeve to wipe the blood away and tried not to let his soft moan bother her. "Thanks." She said softly, running her hand through his wet hair, "I'd be hamburger if you hadn't caught me."

"Don't you mean _Samburger_?" Daniel whispered back, breathlessly.

"Haha. You sound like the Colonel." Sam laughed, feeling a bit of tension release. Her laugh turned to a coughing spell that left her breathless and bent over at the waist. She felt so tired and dizzy all of a sudden. Wiping her mouth, she closed her eyes for a moment to regain some control. She opened her eyes and met Daniel's pained, yet concerned gaze. She said hoarsely, "We need to get to shelter and then I'm going after the Colonel and Teal'c."

She pushed herself to her feet and pointed to the edge of the roof. She glanced back down at Daniel who was lying very still, breathing carefully. "I'm going to check and make sure that thing's dead. Then I'm going to look for a way down. I'll be right back." She got a slight nod in response.

Getting up, Sam coughed into her sleeve and headed to the edge, cursing the never-ending rain. It had only been, what a couple hours ago and she'd actually been warm and dry? Frowning, Sam peered over the edge of the building. She was relieved to see the creature was quite graphically dead. Wrinkling her nose, she surveyed the area below, seeing no obvious threats. She returned to Daniel's side when she saw him struggling to get a new clip in his P90. She snapped it in for him, and then headed across the roof to where she saw what looked like a staircase at the edge of the roof. Halfway there, she jumped as her radio crackled to life and the Colonel's voice broke through the silence.

"Carter! Come in."

"Colonel O'Neill! Glad to hear your voice."

"Are you and Daniel ok?"  
>"More or less."<p>

"Get back to the bunker ASAP Major."

"Yes, sir. Are you and Teal'c ok?"

"Not for long. I need you two here _now_!"

Sam felt her hands shake at his tone. Something bad had happened. She hurried back to where Daniel was already trying to push himself up and helped him get to his feet. They didn't speak; they just hurried as fast as they could.


	8. Chapter 8

The weapon didn't melt in his hand as he'd been afraid it might, but Jack could tell the staff weapon was as good as dead. Thankfully, the creature breathed its last before the staff weapon did. After taking a careful look around the perimeter and finding no white monsters preparing to leap at him, Jack tossed the useless weapon aside, and ran to Teal'c's side. He swore loudly seeing the state of his friend. The Jaffa was only unconscious, but a check of his thready and rapid pulse left Jack concerned at whether he would be _just_ unconscious for long. The creature had done a thorough job of mauling Teal'c.

Jack could tell Teal'c had fought as long as possible; his arms were covered with defensive wounds. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only part of him covered with dreadful wounds. The amount of blood covering quite frankly scared Jack. It certainly didn't look like anything a human could survive, and even with Junior, Jack was gravely concerned about Teal'c's chances of survival. He had been ripped to shreds. The rain was washing the blood off his face and body, pooling into the mud underneath him and leaving him looking like a grotesque snow angel surrounded by a muddy blood outline. His breathing was shallow and rapid; Jack got no response when he shouted his name.

Thumbing his radio, Jack called frantically for Carter and Daniel only to get distressing silence on the radio and ominous gunfire in the distance. He took a rapid assessment of his surroundings. The woods seemed completely silent except for the pouring rain and occasional rumbles of thunder. No pounding of heavy paws, no growling or other signs of animals about to pounce. But it didn't allay Jack's fears much. It was only a matter of time before more creatures came at him. Knowing they weren't at all safe out in the open and that Teal'c had little time, Jack made the decision to move the Jaffa back to the bunker.

Moving the dead weight Jaffa would not be easy, but there was no choice. Jack knew the bunker was the only place that would offer any semblance of safety at this point. He was thankful that over the course of the attack, they had been moving closer to the bunker rather than farther away. But before he could move him, he needed to at least stabilize Teal'c somewhat. He pulled out some pressure dressings, finding himself at a momentary loss as to what wound to _start_ with in the first place. There were certainly plenty of options. He started with a frightening gash down the side of Teal'c's neck, way too close to his carotid artery for Jack's peace of mind. It wasn't an easy process this trying to play medic in the middle of a downpour, but hey, he hadn't joined the Air Force and expected it to be easy, had he?

Of course, he hadn't joined the AF expecting to be stranded on another planet, or alternate reality, and trying to give first aid to an _alien_. That hadn't been in the brochure. But here he was, on his knees, soaked to the core, muddy and cold, putting pressure on bleeding wounds and hoping the rest of his team wasn't in as much trouble as he and Teal'c were right now. Things could always be worse, right?

The next moment when Teal'c stopped breathing, Jack wished he hadn't asked such a stupid question.

"Teal'c don't do this to me!" Jack shouted, not particularly caring that no one but himself heard. Hands slipping on Teal'c's blood slick neck, he found a pulse that wasn't going to be there much longer and immediately started rescue breathing. For several moments, the world narrowed as Jack fought to save his friend's life. In between rescue breathing, as he continued to monitor the pulse that nearly wasn't, Jack kept shouting at the Jaffa.

"_Teal'c, I swear you better not make this all be for nothing."_

"_I'm so not sitting up to my hips in the mud and giving you mouth to mouth for you just to go and die on me!"_

"_Let's keep that heart pumping, buddy…"_

Even though he knew it wasn't really serving any other purpose than to make _him_ feel better…it was worth it.

It was even more worth it about five minutes later when Teal'c took a breath on his own. Of course that didn't mean it was going to last long. Teal'c remained completely unresponsive and Jack didn't like the sweat-sheened grey of his face. He had only one flashlight easily available to him and he knew he needed help. The optimistic part of his brain was working overtime to convince himself that Carter and Daniel were fine, not dead, just distracted. Mentally crossing his fingers, he tried the radio again. Relief flooded him at Sam's voice. He couldn't enjoy it much because he knew Teal'c was pounding down death's door. So he just ordered the Major to get to him right away. Without waiting another second, he decided any further patching up was going to have to wait. He grabbed the Jaffa under the arms and wasted no time in dragging him toward the bunker. The only good news was that the mud made it fairly easy to slide Teal'c along. The bad news was that the mud made it fairly easy to fall on his butt. After falling a half dozen times, Jack could finally see the bunker about 20 yards directly behind him.

_So close._

Of course, that was also the moment that he discovered Teal'c had stopped breathing again. Starting rescue breathing again, he willed his teammates to hurry.

And hurry they did. Teal'c had just started to breathe again and Jack was preparing to drag him again when he heard a shout and saw his teammates running toward him.

* * *

><p>Sam had been heading to the bunker when she caught a glimpse of movement and realized it was the Colonel crouching next to a frighteningly still and bloody Teal'c. She slid to a stop, almost falling to her knees in the process, and turned to run in the other direction. Daniel was right behind her and it didn't take them long to see why the Colonel had been so terse over the com. Sam felt her breath catch in her throat and it wasn't because she had been running. The look on the Colonel's face showed despair and barely controlled panic.<p>

For good reason.

"Thank God!" He said, already grabbing Teal'c around the chest. "Grab his legs; we gotta get out of here."

Sam and Daniel wordlessly each grabbed one of the Jaffa's legs. The never ceasing rain was washing blood off of Teal'c rapidly. The alarming thing was that there was as much new blood coming as was being washed off. Sam could see that he had been attacked by a _Sha_ beast, and quite thoroughly too. Teal'c was an unhealthy shade of pale and she was pretty sure she had seen the Colonel giving rescue breaths as they had come up on him. Even as she did her rapid assessment of the undeniably dire situation, half of her mind was on their surroundings. The world seemed to be in a never changing state of gloomy twilight; if there was a sun, it was well hidden by the dismal clouds. She tore her eyes off Teal'c to check around them as they ran for the bunker. The bunker door was a few yards away when they heard them.

"Nine o'clock!" Daniel shouted. Sam glimpsed a flash of white bounding toward them even as Daniel dropped Teal'c's leg and sprinted the rest of the way for the bunker door, drawing it open with difficulty. "Come on!"

"Go, go!" Jack shouted, urging Carter on even as he heard Daniel begin firing at the rapidly approaching _Sha._

It seemed like an eternity. Like one of those ridiculous slow motion sequences in an action flick. It seemed surreal as they ran those last few feet and nearly fell into the bunker. Jack dragged Teal'c just beyond the threshold and then he eased him down to the ground with minimal finesse. He then ran to the door to start to drag it shut even as Daniel continued firing. Daniel fired until he saw the creature stumble, then he let the P90 fall to his chest and grabbed a hold of the heavy bunker door with his left hand and helped Jack drag it shut and slam the bolts home. They stood there for a split second, then both jumped slightly as a massive _thud_ hit the door.

"It's gonna hold, right?" Daniel ventured breathlessly.

"Ask Carter." Jack said shortly, already turning back to Teal'c. If that door wasn't going to hold…there wasn't much they were going to do about it anyway.

Sam had dropped her pack and gun and had a hand to Teal'c's throat, checking his pulse. She shook her head, "It's really weak."

Jack nodded, grabbing the Jaffa around the chest again and quickly pulled him nearer to the fire. Removing the Jaffa's pack, Jack laid Teal'c flat in front of the still smoldering embers of their morning fire as Sam elevated his legs on a crate. Jack then unclipped his own pack and P90 and set them aside. He gently started reassessing the bloody cuts on the other man's body. The deep gashes across his face and neck, including the one dangerously close to his carotid artery, were still bleeding steadily despite the temporary dressings Jack had earlier applied. He was also sliced across his chest and down to his stomach, a fact that concerned Jack a lot. The pressure dressings he had applied not long ago were already sodden. He pressed down on a heavily bleeding wound on the Jaffa's right upper chest, watching as blood welled liberally through his fingers.

"Carter. Med kit now!" He heard Carter's gasp as she hit her knees on the other side of Teal'c. She was tearing into her pack, pulling out her med kit. "Daniel, get over here and give us some light."

"Sir…"

"I know, Carter. I know." Jack accepted the clean gauze she handed him.

Sam felt sick as she rechecked Teal'c's pulse. She wasn't reassured. In fact, she was surprised he was still alive. She worked wordlessly with the Colonel to try to stem the blood flow as Daniel flicked on all the flashlights. He then circled the room lighting the lamps and stirring up the fire. After he'd done all he could to light the room, he dropped to his knees beside Jack, shining the flashlight over Teal'c.

Jack pushed a piece of gauze into his hand and pointed to a badly bleeding wound on Teal'c's right thigh. "Get some pressure on that and hold that light over here so I can see what I'm doing!" Jack growled, straining to see well enough to stitch Teal'c's chest wound despite the increased light.

Daniel silently complied, his right arm shaking badly under even the slight strain of holding the flashlight. Dragging Teal'c had been murder on his shoulder. His entire right side was on fire. He clenched his jaw against the pain while putting pressure on the wound and staring at Teal'c with concern. He didn't look good at all. Daniel wondered if Junior was going to be able to save Teal'c this time.

* * *

><p>Jack took a shaky breath and sat back on his heels, wiping his forearm across his sweaty forehead. There had been reasons that he had chosen a career as an Air Force pilot and not as a doctor. Surgery was not his thing. Not for the first time, he wished Janet was with him. <em>Not that I'd wish this trip on anyone, <em>he thought, shaking his head slowly. Sam handed him a damp cloth to wipe his hands. She was gently cleaning the blood off of Teal'c; and there was a lot of it. Now that they had Teal'c more or less settled, he felt the tension and adrenalin that he had been riding slowly ebb.

What he wouldn't give for a shot of whisky. He glanced over at the cot and realized they should probably get Teal'c covered even if they couldn't necessarily get him up on the cot. Jack started repacking the supplies and said, "Daniel, go get some of the blankets."

Daniel nodded and slowly got to his feet.

Jack looked up from his pack when the flashlight hit the floor and rolled across the room. He was more than a little surprised to see Daniel make it to his feet and immediately lean backwards against the wall. His face, which Jack noticed for the first time was a disconcerting shade of white turned a sickly shade of grey. Before Jack could move, Daniel's knees buckled and he slid down the wall, his eyes half closed. When he hit the floor, his eyes flashed open briefly, before sliding closed again. Jack made it to his side just as he started to fall over to the left.

Grabbing him around the shoulders, Jack was surprised when Daniel flinched and groaned in pain.

"Careful sir!" Carter exclaimed, looking over. "His right shoulder. I had to reset it."

"What?" Jack asked, then shook his head, "Never mind, tell me later. Daniel, you with me?" He asked, taking his left hand off Daniel's injured shoulder and gently pushing his head back up.

Daniel opened his eyes and let his head fall back against the wall with a thud. "I'm here, Jack, what is it?"

His voice was slightly slurred and Jack could see his eyes weren't focusing very well. Keeping his hand on his left shoulder, Jack asked, "Are you ok?"

"Teal'c's hurt. I'm ok." He muttered even as his head lolled to the side and his eyes slid shut again. Jack slapped his cheek gently and was relieved to see a flash of blue. "I'm ok." Daniel repeated, trying to focus on Jack's face which was blurry and seemed to be swimming back and forth in front of his eyes.

Jack shook his head, "You'd be doing a better job of convincing me that you're ok if you'd quit passing out on me here."

Daniel frowned. _Passing out_? He realized he was sitting against the wall. How had he gotten there? "I was getting a blanket…" He mumbled, flinching as a movement jarred his right arm. He reached across with his left arm to grip his right.

"How's the arm?" Jack interrupted as Sam joined them.

"It hurts." Daniel acknowledged, feeling more awake and aching all over.

Jack nodded, doing a rapid assessment of his other injured teammate. Daniel was looking more alert, but also clearly in pain and shaking with the cold. "Let's get the jacket off."

"If we have to." Daniel muttered, dreading moving his arm at all.

"I'm thinkin' you want to be dry and warm at some point?"

Daniel didn't answer, but let Sam ease his left arm out of his sleeve then leaned forward and tried not to hiss in pain as Jack pulled his coat out from behind him and off his right arm. Jack winced in sympathy as he watched Daniel cradle his arm tightly to his chest. "Sorry."

Daniel nodded slightly.

Jack took a closer look and was glad to see that the shoulder was not out of place. He sat back and said, "We need to get that arm supported in a sling."

Daniel just leaned his head back against the wall and sighed. He was exhausted. The idea of moving ever again seemed unlikely enough to make him laugh. Except he was too tired to even do that. So he just watched as Jack rummaged through some of the discarded items in the room till he found some old half torn sheet that he could fashion into a sling. Daniel watched him, then glanced over at Teal'c who was laid out on his back under a ratty blanket, looking about as dead as he'd ever looked. It wasn't an encouraging sight.

"You think you can keep something down now, Daniel?" Sam asked, interrupting his thoughts as she pulled her pack toward her. "I want to give you some Tylenol and you're pretty dehydrated."

He just nodded slightly and allowed her to feed him the pills and a drink of water. The only thing keeping his pain at a tolerable level at the moment was his tight grip on his right arm. He eyed Jack warily as he knelt next to him with his makeshift sling. Jack continued to fiddle with it till he had it just right as Sam waited patiently.

"So," Jack said, showing off his creation. "How exactly did you manage to dislocate your shoulder anyway?"

"Oh, just trying to stop Sam from jumping off a building." Daniel said, sending a small smile at Sam who smiled back.

"Uh huh. Lean forward." Jack instructed and he and Sam put the sling behind Daniel's back.

Daniel was perfectly content to allow them to do the work, as he currently wasn't feeling like doing much of anything. Everything was aching with a vengeance. His back and right shoulder, down to his fingers, felt afire.

Sam smoothed the sling in the back and explained, "We were trying to get on top of a building. We had a _Sha_ on our six and I was halfway up the side of the building when it grabbed my leg." She motioned at the tear in her pant leg. "It knocked me off balance and Daniel was the only thing that kept me from falling."

Jack grimaced, "That must've hurt."

"Yes, actually it really did." Daniel acknowledged.

"Ok, you can let go of your arm so I can tie this up." Jack said waving the loose end.

Daniel didn't let go of his right wrist, but simply lifted his left arm to allow Sam to pull the loose end through.

"Or you could just do that." Jack shrugged, settling back to look at their handiwork. Daniel didn't look any more comfortable or happy, but his arm was at least secure.

Sam leaned up against the wall and slumped beside Daniel, feeling abruptly and totally exhausted. She accepted a canteen from Jack who settled himself on the floor across from them. He studied his teammates, ending with Sam. "So what exactly happened out there?"

Sam sighed, "We had been exploring one of the buildings when we got your call about the _Sha_. We were on our way to help you when we got ambushed. Daniel killed the first one, but another one came at him from behind and knocked him off his feet."

Jack raised his eyebrows, "I saw Teal'c go down. He didn't exactly pop right back up."

"Neither did I." Daniel smiled with his eyes closed.

"But he did get a grenade out and killed two of them."

Jack nodded, "Good thinking."

"Yes, sir. But he was pretty banged up afterward. I'm sure he's got a concussion after hitting the ground that hard."

"It's not a concussion." Daniel said, not opening his eyes.

"Did anyone ask you for your opinion?"

"It's _my_ head."

"Which is precisely why I didn't ask your opinion." Jack said, waving his hand at Sam to continue.

"Sir!" She interrupted his thought process as she grabbed his hand. "Your hand!"

"Is hurting, yes." Jack nodded, trying to liberate his hand from her grasp.

"It is also bleeding." Sam said pointedly, not letting go of his hand, but reaching for her pack. "We need to clean it and get it rebandaged."

Jack twisted his hand out of her reach to get a better look for himself. He hadn't even noticed it until she mentioned it, but now he realized it really _hurt_. And it didn't look good either. It was oozing a bit of drainage that looked suspiciously infected.

"Looks bad." Daniel said softly, one eye open.

"Not that bad."

"That bad." Sam frowned, "Sir, it looks infected."

"That's bad." Daniel said, eyes closed again.

Jack shot him a glare. "It's fine."

Sam wiped his wound with a clean peace of gauze and some water. She didn't like it at all. It looked very infected to her. Bright red around the puncture wounds and warm to the touch. The last thing they needed was sepsis. As she worked, Sam briefly recounted the rest of their fight against the creatures. After she finished, Jack gave them a quick account of what he and Teal'c had gone through. Sam chewed her lip, looking at Teal'c's still form. Jack sighed and lowered his head to his hands. He was getting that déjà vu feeling all over again. The one he got whenever a mission went belly up and it all hit the fan. And here he'd been thinking their _last_mission, to K'tau, had been a bad one. Shaking his head, he realized that he hadn't lost anyone yet, so this was actually still a better mission.

_So far._

He looked his freshly bandaged hand and nodded his thanks at Sam. He glanced at his watch. 1130. "This has been a productive morning, eh?"

Sam lifted her eyes and nodded slowly. Her head was pounding and she couldn't help the cough that escaped after she spoke, "What do we do now, sir?"

Jack wished he had a great answer for her. But he didn't. "I don't know." He said honestly, "We're not going anywhere for a while. We seem to be safe in here for now." He added unnecessarily, "Teal'c's in bad shape."

Sam looked briefly at the Jaffa, then back at the Colonel and asked softly, "Sir, do you think Junior is going to be able to help him?"

Jack couldn't help repeating himself. "I don't know, Sam. I really don't."


	9. Chapter 9

**1300**

Jack felt a little better after he rechecked Teal'c's bandages and pulse. The bandages were only showing a small amount of fresh blood and he still had a pulse. That was the good news. Jack stood up and started to pace the room. He and Sam had eaten a light lunch earlier and since that time she had been studying the equipment in the room. Jack had spent his time taking an inventory of their supplies and keeping an eye on Teal'c. His mind was racing as he tried to determine the best course of action. He could hear Sam muttering in the background; her coughing was growing worse, he noted with concern. Teal'c wasn't going to be ambulatory for who knew how long, so travel was going to be an issue.

He reached the far wall and turned around to pace in the opposite direction. He noticed that Daniel's eyes were open and he was studying the ceiling with an expression of focused confusion. Jack smiled wryly. Sam had managed to convince Daniel to lie down for a while earlier. She'd had to do her best Janet impression, and Daniel _had _to have been feeling pretty awful for that to have worked anyway, but Jack had to admit she'd scared even _him_. Jack took a seat next to his friend, noticing the rather impressive bruising across his left cheek and under both eyes. He looked very much like a rather pale raccoon. _Oh yeah _he was so saving that one for later. He touched Daniel's left shoulder. "Hey there."

Daniel looked at him with a frown and asked, "Is it morning?"

"Nope. It's 1300. Afternoon. Same rainy day." Jack offered. "How do you feel?"

"Groggy. Sore." Daniel shifted, starting to get up, and then falling back with a gasp, his left hand reaching for his right shoulder. "That hurt."

"Stay still." Jack suggested. "You're pretty banged up."

Daniel grimaced, "Noticed. How's Sam?"

"She's ok. She's in the other room looking at all the shiny toys." Jack said, noticing Daniel seemed to zone out even while he was talking. Nudging him on his good shoulder, Jack asked, "You remember where you are? What happened?"

"Oh yeah. Wet, wet planet, big white wolves. Teal'c…" He tried to sit up again, with the same results.

"Daniel!" Jack muttered, "Stay put, will ya? Teal'c's to your right. He's stable, but still unconscious."

"He doesn't look good." Daniel said softly, turning his head and squinting to see. He looked back to Jack, "Are you ok?"

"Peachy."

"What are we gonna do?" Daniel said, mostly to himself.

Jack answered anyway, "Well, we're gonna get off this planet and get home."  
>Daniel just stared at him till Jack felt pressured to add, "Don't ask me when or how. I haven't worked that out yet."<p>

Daniel nodded and took a deep breath, then flinched and couldn't quite muffle his moan. Jack narrowed his eyes, "What was that?"

"Sore."

"Your shoulder?"

"That too."

"Daniel, are you having trouble breathing?" Jack asked, growing more concerned watching the guarded way he was trying to breathe.

"No, I just took too deep a breath. My ribs and back are sore from when that animal ran into me."

Jack didn't like that. Not at all. "You think anything's broken?"

"No, just sore. Very, very sore. All over." He reached up and pressed his free hand to his head, careful to avoid his nose.

Jack asked, "Headache?"

"Oh yes."

Rummaging in the pack nearest him, Jack dug out a pack of pills. "Too soon for Tylenol, but here's some Ibuprofen. How about you let me help you sit up this time?"

"Good idea." Daniel smiled slightly.

A moment later, he was leaning back against the wall feeling a little dizzy and a whole lot uncomfortable. Jack hadn't released his grip on his shoulder yet and was studying him consideringly. Truth be told, he didn't feel so great. Daniel accepted the pills with a shaking hand. Taking a careful sip of water, Daniel looked around the room again, and then asked, "My glasses?"

"Ah." Jack nodded, starting to turn away. He paused instead and asked, "You gonna fall over if I let go?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Cuz last time we tried this you kept passing out."

"Jack."

"Just checking."

"I'm quite awake now, thank you."

Jack nodded and crossed the room to a low shelf where Sam had placed his glasses earlier. He handed them to Daniel and asked, "You hungry? Carter and I had something."

"Not right now, thanks. Would you hand me my gear and those books I gathered up earlier?"

Jack shook his head, "Why don't you just take it easy for a few minutes? You just woke up."

"Yes, and every minute more I waste could be a minute Teal'c doesn't have. You know the stakes, Jack. I have to figure out whatever I can from this stuff and try to get us home."

Jack nodded slowly. He was right, of course. And it wouldn't be the first time that he had worked on a major mystery when injured or ill. Jack brought him his gear just as Sam walked in, trying to muffle her cough. She smiled when she saw Daniel.

"Daniel." She knelt next to him. "How are you doing?"

"Better. You find anything interesting?"

Sam hated how hoarse her voice sounded from all the coughing, "Actually I did."

"Do tell." Jack prompted, sitting down across from her.

She nodded, "I don't know what all of it is, but I've found some items that I think could be helpful. There are a few weapons, even."

"Those are always helpful."

"Yes, sir. I haven't completely figured them out yet. There's also a device that, from what I've determined, is some sort of a heat sensor."

"Like to detect living beings?"

"Yes. I'm still having trouble getting some of it to work. I also found this." She pulled out a very familiar object out of her pocket. Jack and Daniel studied it for a second.

"Guess that's good confirmation that this was a Goa'uld held planet if we weren't already convinced." Jack said dryly. "Does it work?"

Sam shrugged and put the ribbon device on the ground. "Haven't tried it, sir."

"No healing device?"

She shook her head, eyes flicking guiltily first to Teal'c, then over to Daniel who was still studying the ribbon device as if it was a snake.

Jack nodded, "Of course not. Ok. So, this heat seeking device….could it tell us about any of those monsters out there?"

"I think so. I was still working on it, but wanted to grab some equipment from my pack. If I _can_ get it to work, it could be very handy. But that's about all I've found that I can figure out or that seems to work." She coughed into her hand, "I'm just going to grab my gear and get back to it."

Jack nodded, "Ok. Think I'll come with you, Carter, and take a look at those weapons."

She nodded and stood up to gather what she needed. Jack glanced at Daniel who was gingerly reaching for one of the books next to him. Jack pushed the stack closer and asked, "You gonna be ok?"

"Yeah."

"Need anything else?"

"Hot shower, hot food, oh, hot coffee…not necessarily in that order." He smiled.

Jack grinned, "Cold much?"

"Just a bit."

"Want a blanket? They're a bit smelly, but better than nothing."

"No, I'm ok."

"I'll make some of our delicious ration coffee when I get back."

"Thanks."

Jack nodded, and followed after Carter.

* * *

><p>For the next hour and a half or so, Jack ran back and forth between Carter's little shop of gizmos and the staircase. He'd been fiddling with the weapons, firing them off down the staircase to varying degrees of success. The going back and forth between rooms also allowed him to keep an eye on Teal'c and Daniel. There had been no change in the Jaffa, and Daniel had been engrossed in his reading, barely noticing Jack's comings and goings.<p>

Jack walked down a few steps and raised the last weapon they had found. It was about the size of a Colt revolver, fairly heavy, but comfortable in his hand. Two of the guns he'd tried before had proven to be nothing more than little popguns not even indenting the walls. One device had looked like, felt like, and was a very efficient bomb. Jack had been grateful he'd closed the door on that test. The blast had brought Sam running from the other room, panic all over her face. Daniel had just looked up in mild interest and had asked if the thunder was getting worse, then immediately returned to his book.

Now, Jack raised the weapon, hoping it worked at least as well as a Colt.

10 seconds later, flat on his back and seeing stars, he grinned. _Oh yeah._ That was a keeper. Slowly, he tried to bat away the sparkles floating in front of his eyes, realizing as he did that he could hear a muffled voice. Like reception fading in and out, Jack heard increasing snippets of what seemed to be a rather panicked conversation.

"….are you….Jack!...can you hear….come on….answer me! ….Jack!"

"Daniel."

"Jack!"

Well, he sounded ticked, Jack thought.

"What did you do this time?"

"Fired a completely amazing gun. That's what." Even as he spoke, his vision cleared and he realized Daniel was kneeling beside him, looking very concerned. He also looked a bit unsteady as he tried to maintain his balance with his good hand on the ground. Jack started feeling sorry for causing alarm. "Sorry, Daniel. I'm ok."

He sat up and realized he was quite a way across the room. He pointed back to the staircase, "Did I…"

"Fly across the room? Yes." Daniel nodded, only just feeling his heart rate return to normal. He sat down heavily and shook his head slowly.

"Startle you, did I?" Jack quipped.

"You certainly surprised me. But then, that's nothing really new in and of itself." Daniel answered wearily. "I take it you found a keeper, then?" he indicated the gun lying next to Jack.

Jack picked it up very carefully and nodded appreciatively, "Oh yes. A keeper. It's like a pocket sized rocket launcher, except the rocket is a blast of…energy or something like the staff weapon. A blaster." He smiled.

Daniel rolled his eyes, "Great, Teal'c has you referencing Star Wars now."

Jack shrugged, looking at the gun. "Well, it's certainly appropriate in this case." Even from where he sat, Jack could see the hole he'd blown in the staircase's wall. He rolled his shoulders. He was gonna be sore, he knew. He set the weapon aside and asked, "You getting anywhere?"

Daniel sighed, "Yes and no."

"You know," Jack waved his finger, "Answers like that are why I like you so much. They just inspire me with the greatest confidence."

Daniel nodded, "I know how you like things: direct, simple and to the point."

"To the point."

As silence dragged on, Jack prompted, "The point?"

"The point is it's never that simple." Daniel said hurriedly.

"I realize that. Give it your best shot."

"Ok. From the paperwork I found out there in the one building I did get into before someone let the dogs out, Kamyen Obyet was absolutely a Goa'uld held planet. There is mention of Montu, also known as Minuthi or Mentju…"

"Don't remember him at the last family reunion." Jack interrupted.

"He was represented as a hawk and was a god of war according to Egyptian mythology. But I don't know anything about him as a Goa'uld. I'd have to, uh, ask Teal'c." Daniel darted at quick look at their teammate before looking back at Jack, "So for now, all we can do is assume he's a typical megalomaniac bent on conquering the universe. There's not much else in what I've got to go by. This was written by a scribe." He held up a sheaf of papers, "He said that Montu ruled Kamyen Obyet. Montu's right hand man was a guy named Dougrae, who the Kamyen Obyet called _Boorya_."

"That's the storm guy Tormic told you about, right?"

Daniel nodded, "Apparently, he supervised the Kamyen Obyet world while Montu was on his conquests. Remember the uprising when the Kamyen Obyet overthrew the Goa'uld?"

"Yeah."

"Dougrae, or Boorya, was the one who organized the rebellion."

"That's good."

"He was also the one who took over where Montu left off."

"That's bad."

"Yes. From what the scribe wrote, Dougrae built the portal and only came to and from this world through the portal. After the Kamyen Obyet rebelled against him, he came here and never left again."

"Meaning he could still _be _here?"

Daniel nodded, "I haven't got it all pieced together yet. I mean, I've got journals in butchered Russian from the tower, and odds and ends of Goa'uld writing from here." He sounded frustrated. "I'm only getting a splintered view of what really happened and I'm no closer to figuring out where to go from here or how to get off the planet."

Jack nodded slowly. They were silent for a moment, then he said, "So this Dougrae never came here but by the portal."

Daniel nodded.

"So, again, probably no way out of here…"

"But by the portal."

"And no access to the portal…"

"Except by submarine." Daniel smiled.

"Right." Jack considered this for a long moment. "Animals are a bit of a problem, but…"

"Neighborhood's quiet."

"What's quiet?" Sam's voice and cough drew their attention.

"The neighbors," Jack said, "We're thinking of putting in a pool…"

"Hot tub."

Sam took in their looks of amusement and realized where they were at. It had taken her over a year to figure those two and their half conversations out. By now, she was as close to fluent as it got. She dropped heavily to sit near them, saying dreamily, "Spa, massage, hair dryer."

"Hair dryer?"

"Yes please."

"You mean you don't pack a hair dryer in your pack?" Jack smiled.

"Oh, not any more, sir. No room for my curling iron."

Daniel snorted and Sam snickered even though it made her cough. She grew more serious, "I think I've reached a dead end."

"I've made a decision."

Sam and Daniel exchanged a glance at Jack's _non sequitur._

Daniel nodded, "Have you now?"

"I have." He held up his self-proclaimed blaster. "It's time to do our part to make this a safer neighborhood. We need to get a better idea of what we're up against. Teal'c needs help, we're low on supplies, especially food. We're out of time. Carter, we're going to do a building by building sweep and see what we find."

She nodded. She had basically come into suggest the very same course of action. While she had found some equipment that might help them out, she hadn't found anything yet to solve all their problems.

Jack continued, "Daniel, you stay put and keep digging through all that stuff. We find anything with scribbles on it, we'll bring it back. You find anything or if there's any change in Teal'c, you call us." He glanced at his watch, "It's about 1520 now. We'll stay holed up here another night, so we may not rush back depending on what we find."

They spent the next ten minutes packing some weapons and Sam did a quick check on Teal'c whose condition had not changed. They left Daniel to bolt the door behind them and headed back out into the rain.


	10. Chapter 10

1845

Jack was glad that he and Sam had decided to split up and search separate rooms of the latest building they were investigating. It gave him opportunity to dig out some ibuprofen. His knees were the least of his concerns at present. In the dim light of the flashlight, he examined his left hand with a glare. Oh not good. He was managing to downplay it whenever Carter examined it, but the thing was it hurt like someone was running a rusty knife back and forth against his hand. The dressing was clean so he wasn't about to pull at it. But he felt the never ending throbbing and on top of that, there was disconcerting warmth spreading up his arm. It was definitely infected. Of course, infected with _what_ was the question of the hour.

_Alien rabies._

Just what they needed, he thought, shaking his head morosely. Gritting his teeth, Jack pushed the pain from his hand to the back of his mind and focused himself once more on the task at hand. They had been searching the village, or outpost or whatever for about the past few hours. They hadn't figured out much, but it seemed that the area had definitely been a bustling army base at one point. Barracks, a mess, and other buildings showed signs of having a long life and serving many people. They found a few more journals in one building which Carter had stowed for Daniel. Other than that, they were coming up empty handed in the anything of use department. Jack glanced at the alien device in his hand. He saw two squiggly lines. Him and Carter. She had managed to get the life signs detector up and running before they left the bunker. That had been a comforting toy to have in hand as they considered opening the heavy door. Thankfully, they had seen no sign of any _Sha_ since they'd left the bunker.

Jack was about to finger his radio and check in with Daniel for their ½ hour check in when Sam's voice came over the air. "Colonel! I've found something."

"On my way, Carter." He acknowledged, taking one last glance around the room he was in. It seemed to have once been a communications room, but basically everything in it was destroyed. "Big pest problem in this neighborhood." Jack muttered to himself before turning and hitting his radio. "Daniel."

"Yeah, Jack."

"How are things on the home front?"

"All quiet."

Jack knew he should've known better, but part of him was still hoping that Teal'c was miraculously going to wake up soon. "Copy that."

* * *

><p>After developing a pounding headache from trying to read and translate alien text in the near dark without his glasses on, Daniel felt like he might have found a glimmer of hope in all the scribbling. But it wasn't anything he could do anything about right now. He put the book down and pressed his left hand to his forehead. He'd had to abandon his glasses hours ago because they were not sitting so comfortably on his face. He might not have broken his nose, but clearly he'd done quite a number on himself anyway. He could feel the swelling across his face and noticed his eyes were puffy and swollen as well. Grateful there were no mirrors, Daniel glanced at the fire. It had died down somewhat and he could feel the chill settling back into him. It had been a while since he'd added any wood to it. Regretfully, he pushed the blanket off his shoulders and dragged himself to his feet with a groan. Everything ached. He struggled to one handedly break apart some of the smaller pieces of furniture they'd salvaged and turned into firewood. Tossing it into the fire, he glanced down at Teal'c.<p>

There still had been no change in his condition or level of consciousness. When last he'd checked, Daniel did notice his pulse was beating more normally. So at least that was a good sign. The bandages showed no further bleeding, another good sign. But was it enough? That was the biggest concern. Teal'c was tough, and they'd seen him survive many things, but he'd lost a lot of blood and was cut badly. Jack had even noted with concern that it looked like one of the creatures claws had sliced into the Jaffa's pouch. He'd been understandably nervous about looking for injuries to the symbiote. But he'd also been fairly certain that the snake was injured. Which meant Teal'c might never recover.

Trying to banish those morose thoughts, Daniel shook his head; a movement he instantly regretted as it caused a sharp pain in his shoulder. Sighing, he sat back down next to his teammate and picked up another book.

* * *

><p>Jack couldn't believe his eyes. Or rather, he was almost <em>afraid<em> to believe his eyes. All their searching hadn't revealed anything of earth shattering importance, till now. He turned to Sam who was also staring silently ahead.

"Is that a shiny Goa'uld Death Glider I see sitting in front of my eyes?"

Sam snickered, then coughed. After a moment she said, "It's not very shiny, sir."

"Right now, Carter, it's glittering like gold."

"It's sitting in a workshop."

"Ok, so maybe not glittering."

"Maybe not operable."

He clapped her on the shoulder, "Maybe you fix?"

She looked from him to the glider dubiously, "Maybe."

They walked up and tried to get a better idea of the status of the craft. The cockpit was open and Jack peered up inside while Sam circled it, analyzing its current state. It didn't look terrible, she decided. Some battle damage, to be sure, but it didn't look like it wouldn't fly. _Eventually._ She was less than encouraged by the state of the control interface. It didn't look like it had fared very well. Poking around a bit, Sam reported, "Sir, this is not exactly in what I'd call working order."

Jack ducked under the wing and asked, "Is it in what you'd call_ could maybe be put in working order_ order?"

Sam pursed her lips, peering at the controls again. "Let me put it this way. It's gonna take me a while. This is not a quick project, sir. I've never exactly done maintenance on a Goa'uld spacecraft."

"I get that. While I regularly assume you can and expect you to perform miracles, I'm just asking for you to give it a try. You could see if Teal'c knows anything about…" he trailed off and met Sam's eyes.

She nodded, "If he wakes up."

"When, Carter. _When_ he wakes up."

"Yes, sir."

"All right." He looked at his watch. "It's going on 1900. Let's head back, eat and try to get a decent night's sleep. We all need it. Tomorrow, you can play mechanic and see what you can do with this glider. If we can get it to fly, we could check out the planet better and even transport Teal'c."

Sam nodded slowly, trying not to let her discouragement show. She was feeling quite overwhelmed actually. Of course, it didn't help that she was also feeling sick and miserable. Her head was throbbing and her throat ached from the coughing. Good night's sleep. That was what she needed to focus on. The Death Glider could wait until tomorrow.

* * *

><p>Jack heard the bolts slide open and he yanked at the heavy door, letting Carter slip out of the rain first. She barely acknowledged Daniel in her haste to get to the fire. It had dropped to about -1 Celsius outside and she was shivering badly. Jack pulled the big door closed and slammed the bolts home again. He unclipped his P90 and started to pull off his rain poncho.<p>

"So, how'd it go?" Daniel asked as Jack pulled the wet slicker off and tossed it over one of the bolts.

"You'll never guess what…" Jack started, then broke off abruptly as he got his first good look at Daniel's face.

Daniel rolled his eyes as Jack stared at him with a sympathetic grimace. "It's not that bad."

Jack snorted, "Obviously you haven't looked in a mirror lately."

Sam looked up and coughed for a moment, then found her voice, "Daniel, you look awful."

Daniel didn't feel up to arguing, so he just sighed and sank back into his spot next to the fire and Teal'c.

Jack followed him over. "Are you _sure_ you didn't break your nose?"

Daniel shrugged, then cursed as his right shoulder screamed in protest. Sam slid closer to him and looked more closely. "It could be a hairline fracture, sir. That's a lot of bruising."

"Yes, yes it is." Jack agreed. In the time they'd been gone, Daniel's eyes and nose had swollen quite magnificently. He looked terrible. "So."

"So." Daniel repeated, "So how'd it go?"

"Well we found you some new scribbles to read. And we found a Death Glider."

Daniel raised his eyebrows, "Really?"

Jack nodded, "It's in the shop for some touch ups, but MacGyver here is on the job."

Sam forced a smile. "We hope anyway. I don't have any idea what's wrong with it yet."

"That's tomorrow's project." Jack said, glancing at Teal'c. "How's he been doing?"

"No real change." Daniel said. "Stable, but no signs of regaining consciousness any time soon."

Jack nodded slowly. He looked at the rest of his rather abused looking team and said, "Dinner time, kids. Then we get some sleep. With the doors securely bolted, I think we're going to risk not taking watches tonight."

Sam nodded, then grabbed his left hand, rather insubordinately, Jack thought. "Sir, we need to clean the wound and rebandage it."

Jack leveled a glare at her, "_We_, Major?"

"Me, sir."

"It's fine."

"Sir, I can see the leaking purulent drainage on the bandage." Sam said smartly, feeling just a tad fed up with her CO. She tried to stop a cough, but wound up hacking up a lung. Sitting back weakly, she tried to pull her pack toward her, then stopped and accepted the canteen Daniel was offering.

Jack and Daniel had exchanged concerned looks while she had been coughing. It was the worst fit she'd had as far as they knew and it wasn't a dry hack any more, it was a congested sounding miserable cough. While Daniel gave her a sip of water, Jack shook his head and yanked her pack to his side. Digging through for the antibiotics, he decided it was time they both were on them.

"Major, have a pill."

Sam wanted to shake her head and deny she was in trouble, but she knew that was what _he_ was doing and it was driving her crazy. So instead she nodded wearily, too spent to argue. She held out her hand and accepted the antibiotic. Sam focused a return glare on the Colonel until she saw him down a pill of his own.

Jack waved the pack at Daniel, "Want some?"

"No, no, thanks I'm good."

"Well, I wouldn't agree with you completely on that, but at least you aren't contagious." Jack considered his bruised face dubiously. "Want some Tylenol instead for an appetizer?"

"No."

"Sir," Sam said softly, "Can I look at your hand now?"

"If you must." He muttered, surrendering his hand to her ministrations yet again. Truth be told, his hand hurt so bad it was hard to keep his mind on anything else. He tried to focus on what Sam was doing, but that only served to upset his stomach. The wound was very and truly infected. The drainage weeping from it was a disconcerting shade of rotted apple green-brown. It also smelled pretty terrible. Looking away, he glanced at Daniel and could tell the stench and sight wasn't sitting too well on his stomach either.

Apparently Carter's nose was too stuffed up for her to notice.

She finished rewrapping his hand and looked up worriedly at the Colonel. He gave her a small, encouraging smile, but she could tell he was as worried as she was. Who knew what kind of alien disease the _Sha_ might have had or how it could affect humans? Would their antibiotics even work against the infection? The need to get back to the SGC was only growing more urgent. They had been in many, many bad situations over the years, but how were they going to get out of this one? Too many questions and not enough answers.

They set about making their very limited rations into a somewhat filling meal. While they ate, Daniel filled them in on what he had found. "I was able to translate most of what I've found so far. Not all of it is making sense because I'm still getting a fractured perspective. I've got some records from a scribe, some pages from a journal that seems to have belonged to a guard at one point, and just some loose scraps of paper.

"The picture I'm getting looks like this. Everyone who was here came through the portal. So they were all ancestors of the Kamyen Obyet. Dougrae was the right hand man of Montu."

"Who?" Sam asked.

"Sorry; he's the Goa'uld who was running things way back." Daniel explained. "I don't know much about him other than that right now. Dougrae is heralded as a great hero initially in the records from the scribe. He was a scientist apparently and had developed a good relationship with the people of Kamyen Obyet. He was part of why they were, and are, so technologically advanced."

"He doesn't sound like your average Goa'uld lackey." Jack said thoughtfully. "Was he a Jaffa?"

"Not as far as I can tell. But the info isn't really specific, so I suppose it is possible he was. He helped formulate and spearhead the revolution against Montu. The documents I have don't even address whether or not Montu was killed or if he just left. I have to think that maybe he was killed. Anyway, Dougrae was in a position of leadership at this point, and the people turned to him to help them organize themselves now that they were free. I'm not exactly sure on the timeline, but he was the one who built the portal at some point. Like I said, he was a scientist and had been working with the people on many projects. He began sending people through the portal as part of a scientific endeavor."

"Scientific, eh?" Jack asked.

Daniel hesitated, "It's not exactly spelled out here chapter and verse. The people went willingly at first as they were grateful to him and trusting him. The portal did work both ways for a time, but eventually Dougrae stopped allowing people back through to Kamyen Obyet. They forced him through the portal eventually to get rid of him. I'm missing a lot of details on what exactly happened from there."

"Ok. So he came through and got stuck here. The portal is disabled on this side. Someone must have done that." Jack mused.

"True. It could have been someone who was already here, or maybe someone came through with him at that time to ensure he never returned."

Sam rubbed her forehead, then said softly, "Didn't you say that Tormic said that this guy, Dougrae, was the only one who could activate the portal?"

Daniel though back to his conversation and nodded, "Yes."

"Ok. So Dougrae was the only one who ever, apparently, could open the portal."

"Apparently."

"Our hypothesis on why _I_ activated it is because of the protein marker left by Jolinar."

"Yes."

"Oh, I'm not liking where you're going, Carter." Jack interjected.

She looked at him and nodded, "But it is the most likely assumption."

"It is." Jack admitted, looking back at Daniel. "So based on that, do we assume then that Dougrae was a Goa'uld too?"

Daniel silently considered. Finally, he said, "Maybe. It would make him an unusual sort of a Goa'uld."

"Or not so unusual, after all." Jack shook his head slowly. "We do know some other folk who _aren't _Goa'uld, but have some similar family traits."

"You think he was a Tok'ra?" Daniel asked, considering the possibility.

"Would fit. I mean, a Tok'ra is more likely to have been helpful to the Kamyen Obyet and willing to overthrow Montu. He would have similar genes or whatever that would make him able to operate the tech." Jack offered.

"True." Daniel acknowledged, "But why did he try to take over the Kamyen Obyet?"

"Who really thinks _all_ the Tok'ra are as saintly as they like to make us think they are?"

"Ok," Sam said, "That would make sense. If Dougrae was a Tok'ra he could operate the tech. He would have known more about technology to help the people develop their own tech. He could have been undercover working for Montu. And maybe he just got greedy. No one says that they're any less susceptible to temptation than the next man…or Goa'uld."

They fell silent as they considered the scenario. Daniel finally spoke up. "I did find some confirmation of that structure we saw back at the tower. There is a castle, or fortress of sorts, out there. If Dougrae overthrew a Goa'uld, there's good probability that he had more Goa'uld tech…"

"Meaning a sarc?" Jack asked.

Daniel nodded, "Or a healing device. We might find something there to help Teal'c. Also, there might be information on how the portal works, where we really are, and how to get back. From the stuff we've found, and some of those bodies down stairs, it's clear that there were Jaffa here. He might have taken over Montu's army and brought them here."

"So you're suggesting a field trip?" Jack inquired.

"I thought that was already more or less the plan."

"Oh, it was. Before we ran into the big bad wolves it sounded like a good idea." He swilled his coffee in his mug while he considered their options.

"It's still a good idea. We've found about all there is to find here and we can't just sit here forever." Daniel said. "We can't go back. That's our next best option."

Jack nodded. "Teal'c's not going anywhere."

"I'll stay here and work on the Death Glider and watch him." Sam said, "If I can get it flying again, and if he wakes up, we can always join you."

"I don't like the idea of leaving you here."

"Sir, we don't have many options."

"I know that."

_Oh how well he knew that…_


	11. Chapter 11

0700

"I still don't like it." Jack shook his head.

"We don't have a lot of options." Sam countered, spreading out her equipment.

"I realize that, but you'll be on your own."

"I have been before, sir. Besides, Teal'c could wake up any moment."

"He won't be in any shape to fight anything."

Sam just studied him silently. They had all argued for about an hour the previous evening about the plan for the day. Sam needed to work on the glider in the hope of getting them off the planet. Teal'c couldn't be moved. Jack still wanted to get to the castle and see if there were any answers there. For that, he needed Daniel. Sam thought back with some amusement as she recalled their ongoing argument the previous night. Usually, the Colonel and Daniel had the exact same goal in mind; they just went about getting to that goal in quite…no _extremely_, different ways. They usually had a very firm stance on opposite sides of any argument. Last night, though, they had continually changed sides. Jack didn't want to leave Sam and Teal'c alone, Daniel had insisted their best chance was to get that glider operational. They argued for a while, then suddenly, _Daniel_ was arguing against leaving her alone. Sam still wasn't sure whether it had been because they had few options, none good, or if they were both just so tired they didn't even realize they had been doing it. She had mostly stayed out of it, knowing it wasn't wise to get involved. Occasionally, she had done so only to find they were all of a sudden teamed up against _her_.

Shaking her head, Sam tried to reassure the Colonel. "Sir. We'll be fine. Really. Teal'c is stable for now; it looks like his wounds are starting to heal. I'll be careful when going back and forth from here to the bunker." She patted her 'blaster.' "I think this'll stop anything that moves. Faster we all get to work, faster we get home."

Jack had been silently considering her words and their options, which remained as lousy as they had been the night before. There was just no way around it. Sam was the only one who stood a chance of fixing the Death Glider. Teal'c wasn't going anywhere for a while yet. Daniel was the only one who stood a chance of deciphering any writing at the castle and potentially finding them a chance of going back through the portal. Of course, that brought with it its own set of challenges. Namely, getting past the trigger-happy Kamyen Obyet…after waiting who knew how long for the water to go down enough to get to the portal…if they could even repair it…

_Crap._

He shook his head and then noted Sam's questioning gaze. He reran her conversation in his head and spoke up, "Sorry, Carter, just thinking. But you're right. We should move." He adjusted the P90, then patted the 'blaster' on his hip. "Don't lose your toy."

Sam nodded, "I'm glad you found a second one. I'll be fine. You guys be careful, ok?"

Jack grinned, "Absolutely. Be back before you know it." He waved a hand at the glider. "Unless of course, you come pick us up."

"We can hope."

"We certainly can." He looked at her steadily, "Don't take any chances, Sam. Radio in every hour."

"I'll keep the lights on, sir."

He nodded and turned toward the door where Daniel was waiting. Daniel smiled and waved at her, "Take care, Sam."

"See you soon, Daniel." She watched with a feeling of loneliness and a sense of dread as they walked out the door of the workshop, leaving her to bolt the door.

Sam pressed her back against the door which was nowhere near as secure as the heavy blast door on the bunker. The workshop suddenly seemed very exposed and unsafe. There was another door on the opposite wall that the Colonel had taken great pains to blockade with every loose and heavy object he could get in front of it. That had made her feel better at the time, but now she just had vivid memories of those monstrous _Sha_ and how strong they were. They could get through that door without any trouble at all. Shaking her head, she tried to focus on the task at hand rather than give in to her feelings of fear. She needed to be working. She needed the distraction.

* * *

><p>***0900<p>

The first two hours passed by quietly and, thankfully, uneventfully. The terrain was about the same as it had been on the other side of the river, hilly and rocky. While he still hated the thought of leaving Sam and Teal'c, Jack was glad she at least was going to be out of the rain for the most part. Her cough had kept her up most of the night and she looked exhausted. And Teal'c had still been unresponsive. He tripped over a fallen limb and cursed.

"Jack? What is it?"

Jack turned, shaking his head at Daniel who was leaning against a tree, catching his breath. "Nothing, Daniel. Just thinking."

"Uhhuh."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Jack asked, reaching for his canteen.

"Nothing."

"Daniel."

"Jack."

Jack glared at him.

Sighing, Daniel adjusted his hat. His glasses were rain splattered, but it was useless to try to dry them off. He said, "I'm worried about them."

"Yeah. So am I."

"I know." He pushed away from the tree and joined Jack at the top of the hill. "Sam's not getting any better."

"No she's not."

They started off again, slipping and sliding in the muddy ground. There hadn't been any sign of anything resembling a trail after the first few miles from the settlement, making travel difficult. Jack was leading them more or less in the generalized direction of the castle. At least he _hoped_ he was. A torrential downpour, dark sky, overgrown weeds, no trail and no map were not making his job any easier. At least they hadn't run into any friendly wildlife. _Yet. _He was estimating they had a good long hike ahead of them. And it was mostly uphill. That meant they were moving away from the low land with the flooding which was a plus. The mountains were in the distance, barely visible in the sheets of rain. All the rain was reminding Jack of the beginning of a rather rainy fishing trip a while back.

He finally said, "Y'know, this is reminding me of…"

"Don't say it." Daniel immediately cut him off.

"Well it does."

"Of course it does, it's a torrential downpour and a thoroughly miserable trip."

"Thoroughly miserable?"

"Well, this is." Daniel insisted, recanting slightly at the wounded look he was getting from Jack. "That was…unpleasant."

"Unpleasant?" Jack was bordering on whiny now.

"Ok, not unpleasant. Just very…"

"Incredible?" Jack supplied, holding a branch back so it didn't smack Daniel in the face. "I seem to recall someone saying the word incredible."

"Incredible?"

"Yes. I distinctly recall you uttering something to the effect of '_that was an incredibly nice trip'_."

"Ah, so I said _nice_."

"Incredibly nice."

"I don't remember that. I just remember the rain."

"The rain." Jack looked at him incredulously, "You remember the rain. Daniel, you slept for two whole days while it rained. How do you remember _that_ and not the fishing?"

Daniel snorted, "Oh, I remember the fishing all right. '_Daniel, you're not doing it right.' 'Daniel, do it this way.'_ I remember a whole lot of sage advice that landed me in the middle of a very cold river."

"You caught five fish." Jack offered cheerily.

"Yes." Daniel nodded, remembering, "Yes, I did. _Before_ I followed your advice."

Jack nodded, "Ok, so you got me there. But Carter thought it was hilarious."

"You're right she did. She was sunning herself safely on the shore at the time. Warm and _dry_ like I had been before you dragged me out in your boat."

"Never did convince Teal'c to get in it."

"I believe the direct quote was, _'I will not journey in such a craft, O'Neill'_." Daniel quoted, doing a fair impression of the Jaffa.

Jack smiled, "I don't think Jaffa are a seafaring race."

"Not apparently."

They fell silent as they started struggling along a rocky ridge. They had been climbing up a gradual slope and now they were on the face of a steep incline. It wasn't exactly easy maneuvering and after a few minutes, Jack heard Daniel call his name. Pausing, Jack turned around and saw Daniel leaning against a tree, with his poncho pulled up, tugging at the sling around his shoulder.

"Daniel? What are you doing?"

"Help me get this off."

"Reason?" Jack asked lightly.

"I need my hands free. It's throwing off my balance and I would very much like to have both hands available to grab something before I end up falling over the edge."

Jack carefully walked back and helped get the sling off, "You know you're supposed to keep that immobile."

"Yes." Daniel agreed, sucking in a hasty breath as they eased the sling off. That hurt more than he had expected. If he concentrated on other things, he had been able to ignore the dull ache for the last day or so. Now, without it supported, he felt it a _lot._ He glanced warily over the edge of the cliff, pressing himself up against the rock wall, "I'd rather take my chances with my arm not in the sling rather than fall off this cliff."

Jack nodded, noting the obvious look of pain on Daniel's face. He shoved the makeshift sling around the straps on his own pack, then asked, "Ready?"

"Yes."

They started off again and Jack became even more vigilant when choosing his path. Not that he had many options, but he tried to stay a bit closer to Daniel in the hopes of being able to assist if needed. They had been picking their way across the rocky ledge for about fifteen minutes when Sam's excited "Colonel, do you read?" startled them both.

Jack almost slipped and he heard some scrambling and a grunt of pain behind him. Grabbing hold of an exposed tree root, Jack clicked his radio and replied, "Carter are you ok?"

"Yes sir, I have some news."

"Ok, hold that thought. I'm about to fall off a cliff here. Give me a few and I'll call you back."

"Yes, sir. Be careful."

Jack concentrated on that helpful thought, as he slowly started moving again. The last ten yards were the most difficult of all, and he knew Daniel had been right; trying to do it with his arm in a sling would have been next to impossible. When he reached the end of the ledge and stood on solid ground, ground that was bigger than one foot square, Jack took a deep breath of relief and reached out a hand to help Daniel.

Despite the chilling rain, his face was soaked with sweat and he couldn't quite cover an inadvertent groan of pain. He wrapped his left hand tightly around his other arm and let Jack guide him to an outcropping of rocks that provided some shelter against the rain. He slid wearily to the ground, leaning back against the boulder.

Jack knelt beside him, pulling out the makeshift sling. "Let's get this back on, ok?" He asked, unclipping the pack from Daniel's vest and sliding it to the ground. Gently, he wrapped the sling around Daniel's arm, careful not to jar his shoulder. Even so, Daniel had his jaw clenched and his eyes tightly shut against the pain. As soon as he was finished, Jack started searching for his med kit and the Ibuprofen.

He tapped Daniel's hand. "Daniel, take some Ibuprofen."

Daniel held out his hand and took the pills silently, then leaned his head back against the boulder and tried to relax.

Jack finally contacted Sam as soon as they were settled. "Carter come in."

"Sir, good to hear your voice! I take it you didn't fall off the cliff then?"

"No, we made it back to solid ground safely. We're taking a breather. What's up?"

"Teal'c!"


	12. Chapter 12

Sam's feelings of loneliness and fear melted away fairly quickly when she started really looking into the project before her. Immediately, she felt a lot less lonely and a whole lot more overwhelmed. Yes, she was a good mechanic. Yes, she was also an astrophysicist, but those two points certainly didn't mean she could instantly fix any random piece of alien technology she found. Sometimes she really wondered if the Colonel thought she had any limitations at all. While it was flattering that he held her in such high regard, it also was hard to live up to.

Sam started by testing the wiring, if you could call it that, of the Death Glider. Something easy, something to take her mind off her loneliness, the fact that there were dangerous animals outside the building, Teal'c was critically injured and all the rest of the troubles currently on her mind. She still felt like it was her fault they were even stranded on this planet in the first place. She realized that her excitement over all things technological or scientific often overwhelmed her sensibilities and that she got them in about as much trouble as Daniel often did.

A piece of the Death Glider's wing fell off suddenly, inordinately loud in the quiet room. "Great." Sam said aloud, "More that I need to fix."

She looked at her watch. She was supposed to check in with the Colonel at least every

hour. She also needed to check in on Teal'c. She set her watch for forty-five minutes. That would give her enough time to check on Teal'c before she needed to call the Colonel. Hopefully she would have some good news by then; either about Teal'c or the Glider. She looked back at the wiring again.

She was still puzzling over the wiring when her watch beeped. It was a fine time too since she was about as frustrated with her work as she could get. Wiping a hand across her face, she put down her tools and headed for the door. Getting the blaster in her hand before she unlatched the heavy door, she took a deep breath. Almost afraid to open it, she finally did so and found the area deserted of life. The rain was still falling steadily. She pulled the door closed behind her and ran as fast as she could back to the bunker. She wouldn't feel safe until she had that door bolted behind her.

Shoving the bolts home, she dropped inadvertently to her knees as she was overcome with a fit of coughing. Her head felt like it was about to explode and her chest and throat were on fire. Catching her breath wasn't easy and Sam found herself suddenly collapsed on the floor. She couldn't do anything except lie there and try to breathe. The room had gone quite black on her for a moment there and she knew she wasn't going to be running again anytime soon. She looked listlessly across the room at Teal'c. He was still lying where they'd left him earlier. From where she lay, she could just barely see him breathing in the dim light of the fire. So that was good news at least. Closing her eyes, Sam allowed herself a moment of exhausted peace.

She was sick. And not just a cold like she had wanted to convince herself. Oh no. The cold had progressed quite nicely to good old pneumonia. She was certain. There was a deep and steady ache that had only been increasing in the right side of her chest. Currently, she felt like someone was squeezing her lung every time she took a breath. The run from the workshop had not been her wisest choice. Forcing her eyes open, Sam pushed herself weakly to a sitting position, swaying rather dramatically as she did so. Both hands firmly on the ground, she decided she was going to crawl over to Teal'c's side rather than attempt to walk at this point.

Reaching his side, Sam saw no noticeable change in his condition. The good news was that he still seemed stable; his pulse and respirations were ok and there was no more blood on any of the dressings. He didn't respond to her at all, although his pupils were reactive. She adjusted the blankets over him.

"You know, Teal'c." She said in a breathless whisper, "You could wake up any time now. You're kind of worrying me. I'm used to you being Superman."

She got no response, as she had expected. She kept a hand on his arm anyway, needing a little human…or Jaffa, contact. "The Colonel and Daniel have gone off to try to get up to that castle and see if there's anything to get us home. I'm over in another building working on a Death Glider. Sure could use your help on that." She coughed, then smiled, "First time I've popped the hood on one of those babies. It's not quite the same thing as a motorcycle…or a Naquadah generator. Some of it I'm getting, but I don't know if I'm ever going to get it in the air again."

Wearily, she lowered her head to her hands and sighed, "Teal'c. I hope you can hear me. You're really scaring me." She sat with him for a few minutes as she contacted the Colonel with a less than encouraging report. At least they were still alive; and hadn't run into any other dangerous animals on their walk so far. After throwing some more wood on the fire, she looked Teal'c over one more time and headed back to the workshop.

* * *

><p>She spent the next hour battling with the insides of the glider. Happily, she finally had untangled the basics of the machinery and had completed "Remedial Goa'uld Wiring for Dummies." <em>That<em> had required a rather interesting conversation with Daniel over the coms where she had tried to describe the Goa'uld writing she had discovered on some of the workings of the Glider to him so he could tell her what on earth it meant. While it had been an exercise in patience on _both_ sides, they had managed to work it through and she'd made quite a bit of progress after that. She finally decided to go back for an earlier check on Teal'c when one of her flashlights had gone out.

Again making it to the bunker safely, Sam shut the door and leaned against it, coughing harshly. She was feeling flushed and knew her fever was rising. Not good. So not good. Finally, the coughing fit ended and she made her way unsteadily over to Teal'c's side. Sam felt relief flood her when she saw Teal'c's eyes were opened and he was looking at her.

"Teal'c!" She exclaimed softly, "I can't tell you how glad I am to see you awake."

"Major Carter." Teal'c whispered, or at least he tried to. He was pretty sure all he'd managed to accomplish was to mouth her name. He felt disturbingly weak and there was a burning agony spread over his body underneath the numbness. He felt his heart clench at a sudden premonition that his symbiote had been irreparably damaged. He tried to focus on Major Carter. Her face was pale and deeply worried.

"Teal'c. Can you hear me?"

"Yes." He again tried to whisper.

She must have understood him. "Good. You're badly injured."

That he had surmised.

"You and Colonel O'Neill were attacked by the _Sha_ beasts. You were barely alive."

"O'Neill?" He mouthed.

Sam nodded, "He and Daniel are ok. They've gone to try to reach that castle. They both think that it is our best chance of finding a way to get back through the portal, or just to find a way out of here."

Teal'c tried to absorb her words despite the pain he was in. She was studying him somberly. "Teal'c, you should rest some more. I'm going to stay with you for a while."

He wanted to tell her that he needed many hours of Kel'no'reem before he would recover from his wounds. At the moment, he couldn't remember ever feeling so weak or being in so much pain. His memories of events were terribly hazy. He remembered arriving on a strange world through a portal, but everything else was a blank. He settled for a slight nod, then closed his eyes and forced himself to meditate to get beyond the pain.

Sam was hardly less concerned about her friend, but she at least felt a bit more hope that he was going to survive now that she'd seen him even slightly conscious. Settling back near the fireplace, Sam contacted the Colonel, only to be put on hold.

She nervously chewed her fingernails while she waited for him to call back. What on earth had he meant by 'about to fall off a cliff'? Her imagination ran wild as the moments ticked by and a lot more time passed than what she had deemed necessary. Her heart jumped into her throat when she heard the Colonel's voice.

"Sir! Good to hear your voice! I take it you didn't fall off the cliff then?"

"No we made it back to solid ground safely. We're taking a breather. What's up?"

"Teal'c!" She exclaimed happily, unable to contain her sudden excitement at knowing everyone was still alive, and for the moment at least, safe.

"He is?"

"Yes, sir. Well, he's asleep again, but he was conscious for a couple minutes."

"That's good news at least." The Colonel's voice came back. "He say anything?"

"Not really. Asked about you, but he was pretty weak. I think it's going to take a while for him to get over this."

"And I don't want him to push it either. When he wakes up, you can give him his orders: rest and recuperate. I don't want him pushing himself. Understood?"

"Yes sir. As weak as he is right now, I don't see him being in a position to argue."

"How's the Glider coming?"

Sam coughed and fought to stop before responding.

"That bad, eh?" The Colonel obviously put his own interpretation on her hesitation.

"Well, it's not exactly flying yet, sir."

"Is there any hope for it perhaps flying sometime in the future?"

"I have hope, yes. No concrete proof yet."

"Don't sweat it, Major. You'll get it back together if there's any hope at all of it flying again."

"Yes, sir. How are you guys doing?"

"Oh, you know. Wet."

"Sorry, sir."

"Us too."

They fell into silence for a few seconds then Jack's voice came back over the radio, "Well, Carter. Not that we're not having a truly stimulating conversation here, but I think Daniel and I are ready to get a move on again before we drown right where we sit."

Sam smiled, "Good idea, sir. Check in-one hour."

"Copy that. Good luck."

"Be safe."

Sam sighed as she glanced at Teal'c. She felt torn, but she didn't feel comfortable leaving him yet. The Glider would have to wait for a bit. She needed to down some more Tylenol to bring her fever down and another antibiotic was due. Deciding to make herself a cup of hot tea, Sam stoked the fire and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. She would wait till the next check-in and then she'd get back to work.

* * *

><p>Over the past few hours since they had heard Teal'c had awakened briefly, Daniel had been noticing a disturbing trend. Sam was getting worse and so was Jack. Each time they checked in with Sam, they grew more concerned about her. She couldn't hide her congested cough, and additionally, she sounded scatterbrained and disoriented at times. Scatterbrained was <em>not<em> a word Daniel would ever have chosen to describe Sam, but that was the best word he could think of at present. Not good. And his concern was growing for Jack as well. There had been a noticeable slowing of their pace over the past 6 hours. Jack seemed to be stumbling more and he was clearly struggling to determine their route. He had also grown completely silent except when they checked in with Sam. It was hard to tell because Jack was trying his very best to hide it, but Daniel was pretty sure he was running a fever.

They had taken a brief lunch break about two hours earlier and Jack had taken the antibiotic without a word of protest. They hadn't taken the time to change the dressing, but it was clearly soaked through with drainage again. Daniel was afraid the infection was spreading quickly and that they were going to have a case of sepsis on their hands in no time. And what exactly were they going to do about that? He shook his head. Nothing. They had no resources. His best prayer at the moment was that they would reach the castle and find a beautiful shiny healing device somewhere on a pedestal. Provided, of course, that Sam was going to even be strong enough to do any healing of anyone. He frowned. Even a sarcophagus would be welcome. Not that _he_ was going to go near it. Not for a sore shoulder. Uhuh. But if it came to it, he'd throw Jack into it no matter how much he argued against it.

_Only once though_.

* * *

><p>Jack tried to keep his mind from wandering. It wasn't easy as he currently felt like he was flying high on something. The buzz had to be delirium, right? He was sick. His hand was literally beating in time with his pulse. It felt ten times too big and boy was it heavy. Oddly, he felt like he was in a desert. How could that be with all that blasted rain? But he was hot. So very hot. Not good at all. Why was his hand hurting? Oh yeah…those teeth with legs back…back at that tower. Oh so long ago. He felt like his brain was bouncing in his head. Odd sensations and fractured memories assaulted him and left him confused. He almost walked into a tree branch and he shook his head to wake himself up. Where was he going? The castle. <em>That's right<em>. Their last hope. And it really was looking like it was their last hope. His last chat with Carter had left him more than a lot worried that his Major wasn't going to be on the job much longer. And where would that leave them? Teal'c was out of commission. He shouldn't have left them. What had he been thinking? He hadn't had a choice. _No choice_. Why was he always choiceless?

He shook his head again and tried to focus on his surroundings. He felt Daniel at his right side, a silent but reassuring presence. Jack was extremely grateful that Daniel was with him. In the past hour, Daniel had managed to subtlety redirect their route, unobtrusively lend a hand when Jack stumbled and just be all around supportive. Jack knew his friend knew how badly off he was. He couldn't hide it any more. They hadn't discussed the situation as there wasn't really anything to discuss. They had just pushed forward because as they lacked any other options. Jack suddenly realized they were finally on a bit flatter ground and it was easier to walk. It was a relief after all the climbing they had been doing. They were still in a fairly densely wooded area, but they were walking in a clearing at present with a high rocky ridge to their left. As he forced his fevered mind to focus on the terrain, Jack suddenly caught a glint of something shiny far up on the ridge to their left.

"Daniel, down!" he shouted even as he tackled the other man to the ground. His face smacked into Daniel's pack and he felt a buckle tear against his cheek painfully. That was mild compared to the blinding fire that ripped across the side of his left lower leg. He bit down on a curse and shoved Daniel ahead of him into the brush, then dragged himself under the low branches. Well he was awake now.

"Jack?" Daniel was sputtering, apparently having eaten a mouthful of dirt. But he kept his head down, Jack noted with satisfaction. He slid around and faced Jack with a question on his lips.

Jack waved him down and tried to get a better look up the ridge and assess the threat. He couldn't see anything, but he heard another shot and saw it impact a few yards in front of them. Looking past Daniel, he saw a rocky shelf. "Go." He whispered and pointed. Daniel nodded and headed off for the limited shelter.

They crawled as low to the ground as they could, thankful for the dreary cover the rain afforded. Once they were behind the rocks, Jack pushed himself up and sat back against the rocks. "_Crap._" He muttered, as he grasped his leg.

"Jack!" Daniel leaned closer, seeing the bright red flowing freely over Jack's leg. "They hit you?"

"Clearly!" Jack hissed. "Forget it; see if you can see who is shooting at us!"

Daniel nodded, sliding to the edge of the rock, his Beretta in his hand. He wasn't going to be the greatest shot with his left hand, but it was the best he could do. He took a rapid look around the corner and saw a flash of light from far above and the sound of an impact not far from where he sat. Leaning back against the rock, he clutched his gun and took a deep breath. Jack was rapidly wrapping a hasty dressing around his leg just below his knee and glanced over at him questioningly.

"I see where he's at. Can't tell how many." Daniel answered, making his mind up rapidly. He holstered his gun and pulled his rain poncho up and tore off the sling again. The urgency of the situation almost made him unaware of the pain. _Almost._ Unclipping his P90, he threw himself around the corner of the rock and onto his stomach. He fired a few shots up at the ridge and waited a split second until he saw the flash of bright light and saw the impact of a shot disturbingly close to his right. He fired up at the area where he'd seen the shot come from. After a few rounds, he saw a dark shape up high on the ridge tumble downward.

He eased himself back up onto his knees and looked over at Jack. "Stay here. I'll be right back."

"Daniel!" Jack shouted under his breath. He got no answer as Daniel stood up and disappeared around the rock.


	13. Chapter 13

Teal'c slowly drifted toward consciousness. It was a long journey back from oblivion and if it had not been for a feeling of danger and desperation he would not have found it necessary to come back from the blackness quite so soon. The deep healing meditation he had been engaged in had been a comforting place to hide from the sharp pain of his injuries. He came awake gradually and allowed himself several peaceful moments of quiet listening before even attempting to open his eyes. He now remembered fully all that had transpired earlier. He also remembered briefly seeing Major Carter's concerned face above him. He was uncertain as to how long ago that had been. Could have been moments, could have been hours, or even days for all he knew. He heard nothing but silence around him except for the occasional crackling of the fire. There was a chill that went straight through him and left him wishing for another blanket.

Finally forcing his eyes open, Teal'c found the room almost completely dark. Only the fire cast any glow in the blackness. He was apparently alone as well. He found that if he moved with tedious slowness he could actually turn his head in both directions and survey the area. The bunker. He was in the bunker. Major Carter had said something about a Death Glider. He vaguely remembered their conversation from earlier. He assumed that she was in the workshop. She would require assistance with the repair. And she was not well either, Teal'c recalled. He needed to assist her in whatever way he could. Of course that required him to be able to move. And at present, turning his head had caused enough pain to cause him to grind his teeth. It had also left him so unreasonably exhausted that he had no choice but to close his eyes again and allow the comforting blackness to overwhelm him.

* * *

><p>Sam was surprised when she blinked and realized she was crumpled on her side next to the workbench. Now how had that happened? She turned her arm and caught a glimpse of her watch. She hadn't missed her check-in with the Colonel, though it was getting close. But she <em>had<em> missed nearly 30 minutes. Last thing she remembered, she had been working in the cockpit of the Glider and had finally heard the satisfying sound of the engine starting up. Of course, it hadn't done much more than start up and quickly die again, but after how many hours of frustrating labor that had been encouraging at least. She frowned, thinking back. She had decided she needed to get back under the hood so to speak and had started to climb down from the cockpit. That was where she'd run into trouble. Glancing down at the ground to see where to put her unsteady legs, Sam had dropped down safely, but when she'd lifted her head…that was when the lights had gone out.

So now she was lying in a shivering heap on a cold floor in the dying light of her flashlight. She felt waves of heat over her and knew her fever had reached new heights. At the moment, she had no strength to even consider trying to drag a Tylenol out of her pack. She was a little frightened by how difficult it was to breathe. She wasn't coughing at this particular moment, but all she needed was the slightest provocation and she'd be coughing up a lung again. Sam could hear the congestion and wheeze in her breathing. She tried to draw her knees up closer to conserve some body heat while she attempted to think straight and determine what on earth she should do now.

* * *

><p>Jack had stopped cursing only because he had started repeating himself and that was never a good thing. He currently was in a state of blind agony. The weapon that had struck him in the leg had been some sort of energy weapon. It apparently had a smaller gauge beam than a staff weapon because he only had a gouge that was approximately 8cm long by about 3cm wide. Compared to having his leg blown off, he figured that was a good thing. It was, however, hurting bad enough to leave him groaning through his gritted teeth as he kept his right hand clamped around the wound, his left hand cradled to his chest. Knowing that he was currently about as useless as he could get was frustrating.<p>

Knowing that Daniel was out hunting snipers was downright frightening.

Not that he was concerned about his friend's skills. He had seen Daniel develop into a skilled marksman and a competent and battle ready professional. But he was worried that he wasn't out there helping him and he was worried that they were facing an enemy with the home field advantage. But he couldn't do anything at all about that right now. There was a disconcerting feeling of lightheadedness overcoming him even as he tried to think straight. The planet was dark in the first place, but Jack had the very disturbing feeling that the darkness was growing darker and not because it was getting late in the evening…

* * *

><p>Daniel slithered through the underbrush as quietly as he could, which wasn't particularly quietly. He certainly would have had a hard time passing on any skill check off in a training session if he made as much noise as he was currently making. Thankfully, the rain was helping to cover his movements to a certain extent. He was hampered by his right arm refusing to take his weight if he tried to crawl, and refusing to hold up the P90 without support from his left arm. Which left him attempting to crawl on his knees alone, grasping at trees as he tipped over, or else trying to move in a low crouch that wasn't much steadier. Even though he knew he'd hit somebody, he was afraid to stand up. He wasn't ready to stake his life on the idea that there had been only one shooter.<p>

He pressed himself up against a thick tree trunk as he gazed upward at the ridge. The day had continued to grow darker and darker and, though it seemed early for midnight, to say it was black as midnight would only have been a very slight exaggeration. There was no way he dared turn on his flashlight so he was left straining his eyes through very rain splattered glasses to see any sign of an attacker. After another moment of waiting, hearing and seeing nothing, Daniel struggled to his feet and eased himself around the tree. He was approaching the ridge from the far right, having circled as best as he could.

He felt somewhat more reassured that there wasn't anyone about to kill him as he made out the unmoving form of the attacker he had shot. The body was laying face down a few yards away from him. One more cautious look around and he took a deep breath. Sprinting across the open area, he ducked down next to the body under the cover of a scrubby brush. No one shot at him and nothing moved. He took a last look at the perimeter, and then glanced down at the body. He immediately grabbed the weapon and pushed it behind him and away from the body. He'd analyze the weapon later. First he wanted to make sure the body was truly a _body_ and not just someone faking or merely unconscious. Tentatively, he checked the carotid artery and found no pulse.

Feeling just a bit reassured, Daniel took a better look. The body was a large man, clad in what could only have been described as rags. Fairly nondescript and uninformative, Daniel wasn't able to gain any information from that. He was going to have to turn the body over. He clipped the P90 back on his vest and grabbed the man by the shoulder. He tried to pull mostly with his left hand, but his right shoulder screamed in protest nonetheless and he found himself on his butt in the mud a moment later, dizzy and hyperventilating. Closing his eyes against the pain and lightheadedness, he tried to slow his breathing. After a few seconds, he was able to open his eyes again. With his right arm cradled tight to his chest he did a more careful analysis of the body sprawled almost in his lap.

It was a Jaffa.

A Jaffa bearing a mark he could only assume was that of Montu. He wasn't a First Prime and he had clearly seen better days. His face was scarred deeply and there were even some recent wounds. The rags he wore had once been fairly standard Jaffa armor. Daniel was more than a little surprised to discover that the Jaffa was missing his left arm. Tentatively pulling what was left of the man's sleeve back, he found a startling traumatic wound that had healed up in a terrible ugly scar. This man had not lived an easy life. Daniel looked around the area again with concern. The wound looked like it could well have been caused by a _Sha_. Deciding he wasn't going to stick around much longer, Daniel quickly started searching the man. He had a small leather pouch latched to his belt which Daniel grabbed. There wasn't much else on him.

Grabbing the weapon he had previously set aside, Daniel cautiously stood up and took yet another careful glance around. Seeing and hearing nothing, he decided to risk walking back to where he had left Jack. He could look through the pouch later. Now that the immediate danger seemed to be over, he needed to see how badly Jack was injured. Even as he walked, he surveyed the area realizing they desperately needed to find some shelter. With the new wound on top of Jack's fever, they weren't going to make it much farther today. When he reached Jack's side, he grew concerned that they weren't going to make it_ any_ farther at all. He was dismayed to find Jack passed out and slumped over so far he was almost face down in the mud.

"Jack!" He said softly, reaching out and trying to pull his friend upright. Shifting his position, he was able to push with his left hand and get Jack leaning back against the rock. He pressed his hand to Jack's face and the heat surprised him even though he knew he'd been running a fever. "Jack, hey, no sleeping on duty."

He got no response. Daniel felt a sickening feeling of despair clutching the pit of his stomach. He kept his hand on Jack's shoulder while he looked around the dark woods that seemed to be closing in on him. Suddenly, he could hear strange sounds from everywhere. He knew it was in his head, but the fact that there _was_ legitimate danger out there kept his heart thudding in his chest. Options were extremely limited. They couldn't stay where they were. They were exposed to the elements as well as any attackers who might happen by. But where was he going to go? They hadn't seen anything resembling shelter since they'd left the settlement. Add to that the fact that Jack was currently a dead weight and it added up to nothing good.

Shaking Jack's shoulder again, Daniel was relieved to see his eyes slide open briefly. "Jack, wake up. We've got to get a move on."

Jack's eyes slid shut again and he remained slumped against the rock.

Daniel quickly examined his leg and found that it wasn't bleeding heavily, thanks to the hasty bandaging job Jack had done. Daniel rewrapped it with a pressure dressing and found that his ministrations had apparently not been quite as tender as he might have hoped. Jack groaned and pushed his head up, batting weakly at Daniel's hands.

"Jack, that's it, wake up!"

"Shut up."

"No. We've got to go."

Jack managed to force his eyes open with difficulty. He felt like someone was roasting his eyeballs over a roaring fire. Focusing on Daniel's face, Jack tried to bring the scattered thoughts and memories into some sort of sensible order. He groaned again as his left hand hit the ground next to him and he pulled it close, feeling the burning agony. Everything was on fire. His eyes, his head, his arm, and his leg. He shivered violently. Suddenly he was freezing. He heard a voice from somewhere in the darkness. It was familiar…it kind of sounded like Daniel.

"Daniel?" Jack ventured hesitantly.

"Yeah, Jack, it's me." Daniel leaned closer, trying to get Jack to focus on him. "You with me now?"

"Mostly." Jack admitted, his thoughts still disconnected.

"Jack, we have to find shelter. I need you to help. You have to walk."

"Sure."

"Good. Jack, you have to stand up." Daniel instructed, realizing he was going to have to give very specific and very step by step directions if he was going to get Jack moving. He lacked confidence in Jack's ability to move, but they had no choice. Even as he tried to pull Jack up, he nearly froze as he wondered if he was doing the right thing. Should he go look for shelter without Jack and come back for him? Looking carefully at his friend's fevered face, he hesitated.

"Together."

"What?" Daniel asked as Jack got to his knees in the mud.

"Stay together." Jack forced out breathlessly. His mind was fuzzy but he had gathered enough of his marbles to have a pretty good idea of what was going on. He had seen the doubt and hesitation on Daniel's face. "Don't you dare leave me here."

Daniel almost laughed in relief. "Wouldn't think of it."

"You did." Jack countered, grimacing as he got to his feet and fell back against the rock.

"Didn't."

"I saw it on your face."

"Ok, but only for a second. This isn't going to be easy."

"Nothing that means anything ever is." Jack said, looking steadily at Daniel.

Daniel frowned. Either Jack was more delirious than he had thought, or he had grown suddenly and cryptically introspective. Either way, they had to move while he was awake. He started to ease Jack's left arm over his shoulder, but found Jack resisting.

"Other way." Jack ground out, "Your shoulder…"

"It's going to hurt either way. You can't walk on that left leg, so this is the best way." Daniel tugged his arm over his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, he wrapped his right arm around Jack's waist. "Any suggestions on direction?"

"No, no, you can lead." Jack said, head drooping toward his chest.

"Finally, you let me lead…." He muttered under his breath, "and there's nowhere good to go."

"I heard that."

* * *

><p>Sam felt the hot tears streaming down her face. She was so confused, and if she was honest with herself, she was scared too. There was blackness all around her. All she could hear was pouring rain and all she could see was that blackness. Where was she? She couldn't remember. Honestly, she couldn't remember anything at the moment. Hot. Everything was hot and cold at the same time. She hurt all over. It was so hard to breath. She batted her hands around trying to push off whatever it was that was sitting on her chest. Nothing. She cried some more. Not that she had the strength to cry; it was more like her eyeballs were just leaking of their own volition.<p>

She had called out a few times for help, but no one answered. And every time she called out, she broke out in a terrible coughing fit that left her gasping in terror for her next breath. So she gave up on that. Now she decided to try again to push herself upright. The only other time she remembered doing that, she had fallen over backwards and that had _hurt_. Sam rolled over onto her stomach, coughing violently. She threw up this time while she was at it. The stabbing pain in her chest was almost unbearable.

Reaching deep down for her most stubborn resolve, Sam managed to push herself up to her hands and knees. Great. Now what? While she was grateful to be off the cold hard ground, she really wasn't sure what she had planned to do next. Go for help? Sure. But she had to get to her feet. And when she did that…where was she going? Oh, wait….Teal'c! The bunker! A flash of lightening briefly illuminated the darkness and Sam felt memories flood back. Teal'c was injured….the Colonel and Daniel were off who knew where. And she hadn't talked to them for…Sam crawled over to a convenient wall and sat back against it. She raised her arm and pressed the light on her watch. 1640. It had been hours since she'd reported in to the Colonel. Had they called her?

She wrapped one hand around her aching chest and hit the button on her radio with her other hand. She whispered weakly, "Colonel O'Neill?"

* * *

><p>Daniel could feel Jack flagging. He wasn't going to make it much farther. They had been struggling along for about an hour and a half now without finding anything even close to resembling shelter. Nothing, not even a cave. Jack had stopped responding to him a half hour ago. He was simply putting one foot in front of another like an automaton at this point. Daniel had kept up a steady stream of encouraging words for the first hour but now he was totally focused on just keeping them moving. To add to his discouragement, he hadn't heard from Sam in hours. He'd tried repeatedly calling her and Teal'c only to continually receive silence. The one thing Daniel could think of as a positive in their current situation was the fact that they hadn't run into any <em>Sha<em> or any more Jaffa.

His flashlight was dimmer than a dying firefly at this point and he was having an increasingly difficult time maintaining his own footing and avoiding trees. Daniel didn't even know if he was still heading in the right direction. The moon was pale, hidden most of the time by dark clouds and he had been moving purely on instincts. He couldn't see the castle any more, and even the mountains were mostly hidden by the towering trees. He stumbled suddenly, finding his footing less than sure on a loose cover of shale. He realized they were once more climbing around the edge of a steep incline. Raising his head with difficulty, Daniel strained to see any outcropping of rocks that would at least get them out of the deluge. _Nothing._ By now, he was numb from the cold and the part of his brain thinking about his throbbing shoulder had completely shut down. Looking down again, Daniel shut his eyes against the rain. That was a mistake. Trying to force them open again required far too much effort. He wanted desperately to stop walking and take a break. But just as he was discovering how very difficult it was to reopen his eyes…he realized that to sit down now would be a bad idea indeed. So he peeled his eyes open again and forced himself to be a little more serious about his analysis of the surroundings.

It was at this point of renewed focus and determination that the wet shale gave way and Jack lost his tentative footing. Even as Daniel tried to throw himself backwards against the safety of a nearby tree, Jack lost his balance and fell the other way. Daniel lost his grip on Jack who tumbled bonelessly down the incline. Desperately trying to grab Jack's pack, Daniel found himself on his knees on a slippery hill of loose stone and debris. One split second later, as he made a last ditch effort to grab a nearby tree, Daniel found himself rolling helplessly down the hill. He never heard the soft voice over his radio calling for Colonel O'Neill…..


	14. Chapter 14

Sam had given up after only a brief try to get through to the Colonel. She gave up mostly because she was coughing so hard she was seeing stars again and couldn't have kept talking even if she'd wanted to. By now she had been sitting up long enough that she felt just a degree less dizzy. It was time to move. If she was ever going to stand a chance of reaching Teal'c and the bunker…she was going to have to go soon. She needed medication and she needed to warm up. And who knew how Teal'c was doing? Guilt threatened to drive her to tears again. She estimated that she hadn't checked on him for several hours now and he had been barely alive before. Dragging herself to her feet slowly, Sam tried not to let the lightheadedness discourage her. She was going to make it back to the bunker safely and that was all there was to it.

* * *

><p>Jack had been vaguely aware of things going on around him. Vaguely aware he was being dragged along on a painful leg, vaguely aware of an annoyingly persistent voice urging him to keep moving, and vaguely aware of cold rain. Suddenly, he was <em>acutely<em> aware of the sensation of falling and then rolling down a rocky hill. The awareness of rolling down the hill ended with a bone rattling jolt. He was wide awake for the first time in he wasn't sure how long. He was also currently flat on his back staring up at the dark sky. The rain was falling persistently on his face making it difficult to keep his eyes open. The ground was cold and wet even though he felt like he was burning. He felt entirely miserable.

About two seconds after his roll down the hill ended, another rolling body ended its travels next to him with a painful thud. Jack rolled his head to the right and squinted, assessing Daniel's condition. He had landed on his stomach, his face turned toward Jack's. His eyes were closed and his glasses were gone. Jack floundered weakly, flopping his hand toward Daniel's arm. Slapping dirt a few times, he finally managed to smack Daniel on the arm. That elicited a groan.

"Daniel." Jack said as loudly as he could.

Another groan and Daniel forced his eye open. Oh_ that_ had hurt. He groaned again for good measure as he tried to focus on Jack's face. He was relieved to see Jack conscious. "You alright?" He asked hoarsely.

Jack nodded.

Daniel struggled to get off his face. It wasn't easy, but he managed to get to his knees, his arm held tight to his chest. He shivered and realized he was a little blinder than he had been before. _Great._ Just what he needed. He looked blearily around the area, trying to regain his bearings. Even if they hadn't been lost before, now they were. He couldn't tell from where he was which way they had been going. He took a deep breath and slowly shook his head. Which way to go? Might as well pick a direction. One was as good as the next at this point.

He realized Jack was slapping at the mud again. He looked down. "Jack?"

Jack didn't have the strength to speak or even raise his hand again so he merely pointed beyond Daniel and wiggled his finger.

Daniel followed his wiggling finger and squinted into the dark uncertainly. He couldn't see anything. It had better not be an animal or a Jaffa because he couldn't see them and he didn't have his P90 at the ready. Shaking his head at his lack of caution, he unwrapped his arms from around himself and grabbed the weapon. He forced himself to his feet and staggered unsteadily in the general direction that Jack had indicated. After a few steps, he discovered a hidden shelter. It was a well-disguised lean to built under a shelf of rocks and a heavy amount of brush reinforced with some timber. As he peered inside, Daniel was hit by two revelations at once. One, the lean-to was warm. Two, he had a pretty good guess whose shelter it had been. It made every bit of sense that it had belonged to the late Jaffa. Well, he wasn't going to turn up his nose at it. _It was warm_.

"Home sweet home, Jack." He said, turning back, thankful to find Jack's eyes still on him.

Jack couldn't find the strength to speak but he managed to smile. A little. At least he thought so. It might have been a grimace. He was losing the will to remain conscious and felt incredibly sorry for Daniel who was evidently going to have to drag him into the shelter. His eyes slid closed and he was just about to drift off into peaceful oblivion. Unfortunately, before he could succumb to the blackness, Daniel was shaking his shoulder.

"Don't you dare." Daniel ordered and Jack's eyes popped back open, "You do _not_ have permission to pass out until we are both under that shelter. You hear me? You pass out now and I will leave you right there in the mud. I am not dragging you…" He was working quickly, even as he spoke, to pull Jack upright. He realized he had very little time. He gritted his teeth and summoned his last bit of reserve willpower and managed to pull Jack to his feet. It was a good thing the shelter was only a few yards away or they never would have made it. Jack was nearly deadweight and Daniel actually wondered if he wouldn't have been further ahead to have simply dragged him.

As it was, they ended up collapsing rather than walking into the shelter. Daniel ungraciously shoved Jack to the side in order to pull himself off the floor. Once he had done that, he got straight down to business. He unclipped their weapons and packs and shoved them to the side, then pulled off their rain slickers and hats. Flicking on Jack's flashlight, he took a quick look around the surprisingly well equipped shelter. There was a pallet on a low platform in the back and it didn't look nearly as moldy and ratty as the bedding they had found back in the bunker. Daniel dragged Jack over to the pallet and barely succeeded in pulling him onto the bed. It hadn't been very easy for either of them and it left Daniel gritting his teeth at the pain from his shoulder.

Jack was only peripherally aware of what was going on around him. He was managing to keep his eyes open, but that was about all he could currently claim to his credit. Jack blinked slowly trying his hardest to stay awake and try to think. Now that he was still, he could feel the pain in his leg and hand and the heat enveloping him. His mind seemed to be working like…well, like something very slow. He tried to look around, tried to sit up. Both efforts failed. He realized that he was in a lot of trouble. There was nothing he could do at this point. He had no strength at all.

As soon as he had Jack in a semi-comfortable position and covered with a blanket, Daniel tore into his pack for a med kit. He pulled out the antibiotics and Tylenol. He didn't need a thermometer to know Jack's temperature was extremely high. He needed to get the meds down before Jack passed out again. Holding up the canteen, he said, "Jack, you've got to get these meds down." He got a drowsy blink for a reply, and figured that was the best he was going to get. Gently, he lifted Jack's head and administered the meds and some water.

"Ok." He nodded, setting the canteen aside. He glanced around and saw a round device near the center of the room. It seemed to be some sort of a brazier, albeit a more technological version than he typically saw. Ah, so that was where the heat was coming from. He considered it a bit more closely and saw some dials on the side. Fiddling with them, he soon had the heat turned up several more degrees and a cheery glow from a bright crystal on top of the device. It lit the little room rather well. Daniel turned back to Jack who was watching him silently. He said, "You're not going to like this, but it's time we do a bit of surgery."

Twenty minutes later, Jack was out cold with a freshly dressed hand and leg. Daniel wrapped up the old dressings and tucked them into an empty zip lock bag. The leg wound was a whole lot better looking than the hand wound. It had been a clean wound from an energy weapon and it was no longer bleeding. His hand, however, was infected and the old dressing had been saturated with purulent drainage. Daniel only hoped that the antibiotics were going to stand up to the alien infection. So far he hadn't seen any improvement whatsoever. He sighed and decided it was as good a time as any to try to contact the rest of the team.

* * *

><p>Teal'c had been in and out of consciousness for what he estimated had been about 3 hours. Each time he had drifted back to consciousness, he had managed to stay alert for a bit longer. At present, he had been awake for about 20 minutes and he was growing more and more chilled. The fire, which had once been snapping cheerily, had died down to embers that just were not quite keeping him warm. It was the chill, coupled with his concern over the long missing Major Carter that finally pushed Teal'c into moving. While he felt far from well, his symbiote had managed to repair his wounded body enough that he felt like he might just live after all. For a few hours there, he hadn't been sure. As he attempted to roll onto his side, Teal'c reflected on the fact that if it had been any of his teammates who had been attacked by the <em>Sha<em>, they would most likely be dead by now. Thankful that he had been the one to take the brunt of the attack, he reached out for the edge of the fireplace to pull himself onto his right side.

An involuntary groan escaped his lips as almost all of his body screamed in protest to the movement. But he made it to his side without passing out or seeing more than a dozen stars. He remained on his side for several minutes, just staring into the glowing embers, gathering his strength. He could feel every place on his body that had been torn by the teeth and claws of the _Sha_. Trying not to dwell on that, Teal'c found his thoughts once more consumed with worry for his missing teammates. He hadn't heard from anyone in hours and Major Carter had been clear in her intention to check in on him frequently. Which meant that either he had slept through her visits or she had never been back. Judging by the waning fire, it seemed likely that she had been in some way delayed. Which did not bode well. Just as he considered this, he realized he should try his own radio. It was lying next to him and all he had to do was reach for it.

_All he had to do._

Of course, it was a bit more of a challenge than it usually would have been, but with something productive to focus his mind on, Teal'c found his motivation. Before he could reach the radio, however, he heard it crackle to life.

"Sam…it's Daniel again. I really hope you're ok. We're pretty worried about you. If you can call me back it would be great. And Teal'c, maybe you're awake and could give me a sign…"

Teal'c wanted nothing more than to give him a sign. He could tell Daniel Jackson was exhausted and discouraged. It sounded like Major Carter hadn't been in contact with him recently either which also concerned Teal'c. He reached out again and felt the radio with the tips of his fingers. Almost.

"Anyway…we're just camping out for the night." There was a hesitation. "We've been somewhat delayed. Ran into a few issues along the way. So I just thought I'd ring you guys up and see how you were doing. Guess you're out or watching reruns or something. Oh well, I'll stay by the phone in case either of you get lonely."

The radio went silent again and Teal'c finally got a hold of the radio. Pressing the button, he found his voice, "Daniel Jackson."

"Teal'c!"

"It is I."

"Teal'c I can't tell you how happy I am to hear your voice. How are you doing?"

"I am doing somewhat better."

"You're not pushing yourself are you?"

Teal'c almost smiled. If Daniel Jackson knew that the only pushing he'd done was to roll to his side… "No, I am not."

"Have you seen Sam?"

"Not for several hours."

There was a long silence. "I haven't heard from her either."

"I shall go and seek her."

"Teal'c, are you sure you're up to it?"

"I will do my best." Already, he was struggling to keep his breathing at a normal rate. A shot of something strong for the pain wouldn't have been turned away at this point. If he was going to be able to sit up, he was going to need to concentrate all of his attention on moving. "I will call you again shortly."

"Oh, ok. I'll be waiting."

Teal'c let the radio fall to the ground, his hand shaking from the strain. He hated to cut off their conversation as he needed the contact with his team and could tell the archeologist was acutely worried. But it was far too difficult to keep speaking. And he hated to let on how very not likely it was that he would be able to actually go and seek Major Carter at all.

* * *

><p>Daniel stared at the radio. As grateful as he was to have heard Teal'c's voice, his concern only had increased. So he wasn't the only one who hadn't heard from Sam in who knew how long. Which meant nothing good. Either she was too ill or she'd been injured and was unable to call. And Teal'c clearly was still unwell. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes, reminding himself of the fact that he was short a pair of glasses. Lifting his head, he peered outside and debated whether or not he wanted to go back out into the rain and hunt for his glasses. At the rate the rain was falling, he figured that he'd better hunt for them now before they washed away in the river flowing down the hill. He sighed, dragged himself to his feet and pulled his rain slicker and hat back on. He pushed aside the makeshift door that disguised the entrance to the shelter and less than enthusiastically stepped back out into the rain.<p>

He had his P90 at the ready as he headed back toward the place they'd tumbled down. Hunting around, he didn't see anything. He hesitated, but finally gave up and flicked on his light and looked around more carefully. Pointing the light up the hill, he was able to make out their path where they had tumbled down the side of the hill. Ah, was it possible his luck had changed? That looked suspiciously like the glint of his lenses. He climbed a few yards up the hill and reached out for his glasses. Daniel couldn't believe it. His glasses were in one piece!

"Finally!" He said softly. They were covered in mud but the heavy rain was already helping to wash it away. Daniel didn't care; he slid them on, grateful to be able to see again. He looked around the area. It was heavily wooded and rocky. Looking back over his shoulder, he realized how well disguised the shelter was. Good. He did _not_ want visitors. It was too dark to do much more of a survey and he wasn't comfortable with leaving Jack alone for too long at this point.

He noticed a metal barrel positioned right outside the door. There was a simple filtration system attached to the rain barrel. So at least they wouldn't be short on drinking water. He reentered the shelter, and pulled the covering closed again, taking care to ensure that it was securely disguising the opening. Once more, he pulled off his wet things. He took the time to grab both his and Jack's ponchos and drape them over some jutting rocks in the wall. He glanced over at Jack who was still sleeping, or unconscious. Well, now was as good a time as any to do a bit of exploration of their little home and to take an inventory of their supplies.

Daniel went through their packs first and found they were running low on food. As he'd expected. A handful of granola bars, some gum and a few candy bars and two MREs. That was it. They were ½ way through the antibiotics in Jack's pack. Which left Daniel's supplies. Ok, so it could be worse. Time to play housekeeper. The shelter was about 10 feet wide and was about 16 feet deep. The pallet was up against the back wall and a set of low shelves lined the right wall, behind Jack's head. There were a few books and several simple wooden utensils and a few bottles of water on the shelves. He found a zat gun and some assorted tools on the ground along the left wall next to a small chest that was locked. Daniel left it for the moment and opened another small box that was unlocked. That one was filled with some dried fruits and meats. Helping himself to one of the sticks of dried meat, Daniel continued his examination of the room. He found the breast-piece of a Jaffa uniform in the corner. It bore the same symbol as had been on the Jaffa he'd shot in the woods.

What had led a Jaffa to live in the woods in such a dismal shelter? Daniel chewed on the meat and glanced back at Jack. He was shifting uncomfortably, pushing at the blankets and muttering. Daniel checked his watch and made a mental note of when Jack should get his next dose of antibiotics and Tylenol. They needed to keep his fever down and, clearly, it was only rising even as he watched. Taking the last bite of the meat, Daniel slid closer to Jack's side and pulled out a handkerchief and poured some water on it and laid it on Jack's forehead. Jack moaned but didn't otherwise respond. Daniel sighed and decided to down some Tylenol of his own. He was feeling every ache and pain of his beaten body at present and he wanted nothing more than to take something much stronger and try to sleep. Clearly that was not going to happen anytime soon. He was _not_ taking any chances that the dead Jaffa might have a roommate…or that an animal of one sort or another might find its way to his door. So he pulled his supplies closer to his side, scooted so his back was against the low ledge the pallet was resting on and settled in for the duration.

* * *

><p>Sam hadn't heard the conversation between Daniel and Teal'c over the heavy rain and her own coughing. She was moving on sheer determination and not much else at this point. But she was mere feet away from the bunker door. Tripping suddenly over her own stumbling feet, Sam found herself on her knees. She swayed, trying her hardest to stay upright. How was she ever going to be able to pull that door open? She stared at it; feeling like it was as far away as the moon at this point. Hands dropping, she determined to crawl if she had to. Of course, that still left the question of how she was going to be able to open the door…<p>

* * *

><p>Teal'c counted it a major victory that he had managed to reach his knees. Every part of his body screamed in protest and he could feel his wounds pull with his movement. Several of the smaller cuts had already torn open and he felt the warmth of his own blood. Thankfully, the wounds that had been stitched were still intact and he was trying to keep them that way. He was unaccustomed to feeling so lightheaded. He put his hand down on the edge of the fireplace to prevent himself from swaying. His mouth was dry and he longed for a sip of water. He realized that Major Carter had left him a canteen as he glanced slowly around the room. Issue was…it was on the <em>other<em> side of the makeshift bed he'd been lying on. Which meant he wasn't easily going to reach it right now. His goal was to lever himself up so he could sit on the ledge of the fireplace for a few moments until he gathered his bearings.

Reaching that goal wasn't easy…but finally he made it. He sat there for a solid five minutes with his eyes closed and his hands gripping the edge of the stone ledge so he wouldn't fall over. After that time, he felt somewhat better and slid his eyes open again. There were a few pieces of wood lying next to the fireplace and he kept his left hand pressed to his chest as he leaned over and dragged the wood into the fire. That took too much energy and left him longing to be horizontal and under the covers again. He had not expected to feel so weary after so very little activity. Closing his eyes again and cursing his weakness, Teal'c thought once more of his conversation with an obviously concerned Daniel Jackson. He had sounded so relieved to hear Teal'c's voice, and had indicated he had not heard from either of them in hours. He had also made mention of running into some issues and being delayed. Daniel Jackson had not elaborated, but Teal'c feared their situation was no better than his and Major Carter's.

Thinking of Major Carter spurred him once more to action. He _had_ to find her. Surely something must be far wrong for her not to have returned in so long. He grasped the zat that he had found resting on the ledge of the fireplace. Summoning all of his willpower, Teal'c took a careful breath and powered himself to his feet. It was only that willpower that kept him standing as the room darkened dramatically before his eyes. He reached out a hand to the wall, turning toward it. He was overcome with nausea and knew he was nigh unto passing out. Breathing through it, he held onto consciousness and the brightness of the room finally returned to normal. He took another shaky breath, and then decided it was now or never. The path between him and the heavy door seemed insurmountable.

But it had also seemed insurmountable that anyone would ever stand up to, no less _defeat_, Apophis. And he had done just that with the support of his friends. He pushed off from the door and took his first, very small, step. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected to leave the service of Apophis. Bra'tac and he had made plans of course, and had dreams. But never had he seriously expected them to come to fruition. Thinking back as he struggled to move his left leg forward, Teal'c remembered that moment when the Tau'ri leader had offered his help. What a tremendous leap of faith both the Colonel and he had made at that moment. And even though he had found much heartache and pain to go along with his betrayal of Apophis, Teal'c had never regretted that move. He took another step, clenching his teeth against the pain.

* * *

><p>Sam could hear noises behind her in the woods. Her heart clenched and she feared that there was a <em>Sha<em> out there coming after her. The door to the bunker had never seemed so far away. If it _was_ one of the beasts, there was no way she was going to outrun it. Coughing harshly, she pulled out the blaster and pushed herself to her feet. Desperation was winning out over everything else. She couldn't run, but she could jog even if it left her seriously breathless. She nearly collapsed against the door. Turning her head and looking frantically around behind her, she couldn't see anything coming toward her yet, but that didn't mean that it wasn't out there. Her hand hit the handle of the door and she focused her energy and attention on pulling the door with all her strength. At first, she feared she was going to collapse right there outside the door and die on the spot, never able to pull the door open. It was extremely heavy and difficult. But finally she felt it give. Groaning, she pulled some more and was surprised when it suddenly felt like the door was sliding open much easier.

* * *

><p>Teal'c had reached the heavy door, found it unbolted, and after leaning up against it for a few minutes, found the strength to push. It was agony, and he had no idea how he was going to find the strength to take one step beyond the door once he <em>did<em> get it open, but Teal'c didn't give up. He groaned and put his shoulder against the door. It slowly opened and his whole body shivered with the chill as the falling rain hit his exposed skin. He pushed as hard as he could, then hit his knees as his last bit of resolve and strength failed him. He rested his head against the door for a moment. Above the rain, he was surprised to hear coughing. Forcing his head up again, Teal'c blinked in the pouring rain and listened carefully. There it was again, coughing. He couldn't see anything, but he decided to take a chance.

"Major Carter." His voice was ridiculously weak and soft and he hardly heard himself. "Major Carter, is that you?"

"Teal'c?" An equally weak voice asked from outside.

A moment later, and a familiar face peered wearily around the door. Relief flooded through Teal'c and he smiled. "I am most relieved to see you."

Sam felt tears roll down her cheeks. She had never in a million years expected to see Teal'c up and at the door. She eased herself around the heavy door, dismayed to find him on his knees and looking a frightening shade of grey. "Teal'c!" She touched his shoulder. "We have to get this door closed."

He nodded slowly and with great effort dragged himself to his feet once more. Together, they pulled the bunker door closed and pushed the bolts home. They both leaned heavily against the door and met each other's eyes. Teal'c said weakly, "You do not look well, Major Carter."

Almost laughing, Sam smiled, coughing harshly. "You don't either, Teal'c."

"We should sit down."

"I agree." She nodded. The adrenalin had worn off by now and she was feeling lightheaded and extremely chilled. Now, the question was whether or not _either_ of them could even make it to the other side of the room. She really didn't fancy sleeping on the cold hard floor. Even as ill as she was, she knew they both needed to take some medications and get a good night's rest. Teal'c was bleeding from several of his wounds and he was about the same color as the grey walls of the SGC. The fire was down and the room was cold. So she needed to get the fire stoked, get both of them some Tylenol and antibiotics, redress Teal'c's wounds and get them both horizontal. Sam sighed. That was a lot more effort than she felt up to attempting at the present time.

"One step at a time, Major Carter." Teal'c had his eyes closed, but a smile on his face.

She smiled back and nodded. Yes, one step at a time, it was true. But the problem was that there were a _lot_ of those steps between her and her goal. "Let's go." She said quietly, touching his shoulder. She gently pulled his arm so that his hand was around her shoulder.

He nodded and together they pushed off from the door. Teal'c didn't like how much he had to lean on her as they walked. She was very weak herself and her cough was harsh and terribly congested. He could tell breathing was painful. But they had little choice but to combine their efforts and stumble across the room together. A few more steps….that was all. She was safe and so was he. They could sleep and then reassess their situation in the morning. It seemed like an eternity before he was able to sink down on one of the cots. Once he hit the cot, he lost his strength and fell backward on it, gasping with the pain.

"Teal'c!" Sam exclaimed, not having expected him to fall back quite as abruptly as he had done. His eyes met hers, but he was clearly only semi-conscious. She found lifting his legs onto the cot nearly sapped her strength. Leaning against the cot, she coughed and tried to regain her breath. Blanket. Fire. Meds. Sleep. _Focus, Sam!_

After a moment, she dragged several blankets up over Teal'c, and then unsteadily walked around him to the fire. The fire was completely out, but the coals were still warm and, though it took more effort than she wanted to expend, Sam soon had the fire crackling nicely again. It took her the next half hour to medicate and hydrate them both and clean and rebandage Teal'c's wounds. Finishing up, she rested her head on the edge of Teal'c's cot. She was shivering with the cold and planned to drop down onto the pallet Teal'c had rested on earlier. Before she could do so, their radios crackled to life.

"Teal'c? I know you said you'd call me back when you could, but it's been nearly an hour, and I'm just wondering how you're doing…"

Sam smiled, reaching for her radio, "Daniel!"

"Sam!" The relief in his voice was pronounced. "Are you with Teal'c?"

"Yes. We're safe in the bunker." She coughed, and then recovered, "Just took our meds and ready to sleep."

"Thank God! I've been worried about you; it's been hours."

"Sorry, haven't been feeling the greatest." She felt her brain slowing to a stop even as she spoke. Teal'c was asleep and she wanted to be too. "I'll call you in the morning; I've got to lie down." Sam hated doing it, but she really, _really_ needed to be lying down.

"Oh…uh, yeah, ok. Get some rest and be safe."

"You too." She slurred as she slid sideways onto her bed. The radio dropped next to her and, as she fell into an exhausted sleep, she realized that she hadn't even asked Daniel if he and the Colonel were safe.


	15. Chapter 15

"Jack, shh. Take it easy." Daniel said softly, trying to avoid Jack's swinging fist this time. Of course it would be too easy for him just to sleep a drugged sleep through the night. No, he had to be fighting a battle in his delirious mind. Even delirious and sick, his swinging fist had hurt. Daniel pressed Jack's hand down with his left hand, feeling the sting of his split lip. He should've known better than to get in the way of Jack's right hook. He waited till it seemed Jack was going to lie still for a moment, and then he leaned over and got the cloth damp again. Pressing it on his friend's forehead, Daniel's eyes slid shut of their own volition. If Jack hadn't twisted again and jerked his arm, Daniel would have been sound asleep. He was beyond exhausted.

Snapping his head up, Daniel shook his head and took a glance around. Everything seemed the same. The door was securely shut; the brazier had been turned down so there was only the slightest glow from the crystal. The rain was still pouring and Jack was still not looking any better. His watch showed that it was 0213. The past nine hours had been miserable. Jack's fever was still raging and he was constantly muttering or yelling and was almost continually restless. Daniel had found it incredibly difficult to read anything as keeping an eye on Jack was a full time job. He had already gone through one container of water sponging Jack down. He hadn't managed to get any more Tylenol or another antibiotic in him since they had first arrived which concerned him greatly. Sighing, Daniel pushed the book he'd been attempting to read aside and struggled to his feet.

_Crap_. He was stiff and sore. The little shelter actually had one area where he could stand up fully so he moved toward it. Stretching, Daniel tried to move his right arm gently. He hadn't had it in the sling since he'd taken it off when they'd been attacked by the Jaffa and he felt like it was probably best. It hurt like the dickens, but he didn't want it to stiffen up any more than it already had. He needed it. He'd taken some Ibuprofen and figured that was his best bet to reduce swelling and the pain. Staring out at the rain, Daniel once more longed for a cup of coffee. He'd been carefully rationing their supply and had only had one cup earlier after he'd done his inventory. Well, what was it going to hurt? He was up anyway and not likely to sleep any time soon. He didn't dare allow himself the luxury considering they were in hostile territory and Jack wasn't exactly going to be taking a shift on watch. Besides which, Jack's condition was critical enough that he didn't dare venture far from his side. Besides the sometimes loud muttering which could attract unwanted attention, he was afraid Jack might even injure himself by attempting to get up. A few times it had been touch and go whether Daniel was going to be able to hold him down.

Daniel headed back to his post intending once more to attempt to translate and read the books he had found in the shelter. He wasn't learning much. It seemed that the Jaffa had been keeping some sort of a journal and did discuss the weather and some of the wildlife. He just needed a few uninterrupted minutes to actually piece the puzzle together and he might actually have something that would help them. Settling himself down again, he realized Jack was quiet and was staring blankly up at the ceiling. Smiling tiredly, he said softly, "Hey, Jack. How are you feeling?"

Jack rolled his eyes toward him and blinked slowly. He wondered why his tongue felt like a pair of socks. He also wondered why Daniel had the heat up so insanely high. Staring at him and intending to chew him out for the heat, Jack's muddled mind realized that Daniel actually looked very cold and extremely tired. He also looked like he'd been in a fight. His face was bruised and dirty and his lip was split and swollen. Jack forced his mouth open and struggled to speak. "What's going on?"

"You're sick. You have an infection." Daniel leaned closer. "What do you remember?"

Jack frowned and thought hard. Sick? Where were they anyway? He looked around the room as far as he could see without lifting his heavy head. "Where are we?"

"A very cheap hotel."

Jack frowned deeper, trying to remember how they got there. Everything was a dark, murky blur. His head and body felt weighted down. He shook his head.

Daniel smiled, realizing he shouldn't have tried sarcasm. "Jack, we're in a lean-to in the woods." He quickly explained, "We were on a mission, off world. We got side tracked and sent to…well, somewhere else. We were attacked by some local wildlife and you and I were on our way to…"

"Castle." Jack said, memories flooding back. "Carter, Teal'c?"

"They're together back at the bunker. I talked to them around…" Daniel frowned, looking at his watch and trying to get his muddled mind in gear. "Well, I don't remember when it was exactly, but they were going to try to sleep. They're both in bad shape, but they're safe."

"Hot." Jack groaned, rubbing his eyes.

Daniel squeezed out the cloth again and laid it on Jack's forehead. "You're running a high fever."

Jack closed his eyes, weary to the bone. He was slightly more aware now and definitely feeling some pain in his left hand and leg. Everything was coming back. Yup. Everything about how much trouble they had found themselves in yet again. He had a dozen questions he wanted to ask Daniel; he was concerned about Teal'c and Carter, yet he had no strength to even form words. So he just lay still and listened as Daniel worked.

Daniel dug through his pack and pulled out the antibiotic and some Tylenol. He nudged Jack's shoulder. "Jack, stay awake a bit longer, would ya? You need to take some meds and drink some water."

Jack nodded, eyes still closed.

"Here." Daniel said. He helped lift Jack's head slightly and gave him a sip of water first.

The movement of his head left him feeling dizzy, but the water felt like heaven. Jack whispered, "Thanks."

"Here's the meds." Daniel nodded, and dropped them into Jack's mouth, followed up with another drink of water. "How's that?"

Jack nodded, "Better." He shifted uncomfortably, again trying to focus on his surroundings. Their shelter was rather expertly designed, he noted through his fog. It looked like it was built cleverly into the surrounding landscape, based on the rock and timber walls. He remembered seeing it from the outside and thinking it was a perfect hidden position. "What is this place?"

"It was a Jaffa's shelter. He's the one who shot you." Daniel explained, setting the canteen aside.

"Ah. You got him, right?"

"I did." Daniel smiled.

"Good job." Jack ran his hand over his face and sighed. He could feel the pull of sleep.

"Jack, get some rest. Hopefully the meds will help you sleep better now."

"Safe?" he muttered, half-asleep already.

"Yes. We're safe. Get some sleep."

Jack wanted desperately to stay awake and do a better job of assessing the situation. He needed to be on the ball; he needed to be in charge, he needed to be fixing things. He had to leave it in Daniel's capable hands, though, because the blackness was something he simply could not fight…

* * *

><p>Sam woke up slowly, feeling completely awful. It had been an awful night. She had fallen asleep almost as soon as her head hit the blanket and it had been a very deep sleep. In fact, she had been so deeply asleep that she hadn't even woken up that frequently due to coughing. Despite that fact, it hadn't been as refreshing as she would have hoped. It felt like she had a hangover. Her fever had broken sometime during the night and now she felt chilled and achy. The pain in her chest wasn't any better; thankfully, though, it wasn't any <em>worse<em>. Teal'c had been silent all night and only when she held her breath and could hear his breathing had she been sure he was still alive. At least they had been safe and dry. And mostly warm. Although the chill she was currently feeling left her with the frustrating knowledge that she had better get up and get the fire going again.

Cuddling down beneath the blanket, Sam kept her eyes shut. It was so dark, so quiet and so peaceful that she could have happily slept all day. Coughing severely, she reconsidered. Ok, maybe not happily. But between the idea of staying where she was for a bit longer, miserable as she felt, or trying to sit up and do anything that required more effort than breathing, she opted for the former. If she kept her arm wrapped around her chest, she was able to continue the process of oxygenation without too much pain. Nevertheless, she still tried to breathe shallowly to avoid the stabbing sensation every time she inhaled…or exhaled. She really needed to take another antibiotic. Her desire to relive lazy Saturday mornings from her childhood was somewhat tempered by her military training and the knowledge of the danger they faced. Groaning softly, she forced her right eye open and glared at her watch. Pressing the button, it lit up and showed the current time as 0627.

_Argh._ She changed her mind. Uhuh. Not getting up yet. Nope. Not yet.

* * *

><p>Jack had the distinct feeling that he didn't want to wake up. He wasn't sure yet <em>why<em> he didn't want to wake up, and he really didn't want to think that hard. It was a deep, heavy, dark sleep from which he was slowly emerging. Deep, heavy, dark sleep usually meant he'd just had either a really good evening, or a really, really _bad_ evening the night before. Frowning, he allowed his thoughts to wander. So which had it been? Really good or really, really bad? Well, he didn't taste any liquor so it might not have been that bad. Or that good, come to think of it. But his mouth was extremely dry and he felt exhausted and achy. Maybe the flu?

Oh that would explain why he felt like utter crap.

Not really wanting to, Jack forced his eyes open anyway. _Huh._ It was almost completely dark, so that wasn't particularly enlightening. It was a bit on the chilly side. It was also a bit on the rustic side. Hm. Where was he? Well he sure wasn't on his couch or in his bed. So that left…squeezing his eyes shut, he tried his hardest to think back. Ok, mission. That made sense. A mission. Where to? Russian…oh yeah, Kamyen Obyet. Home of the portal of no return. His eyes flashed open again as every unhappy memory of that trip to Kamyen Obyet came back at him in a rush. He looked around slowly, his head heavy. His roving gaze took in the less than modern setting, giving him a quick idea of their situation. It looked secure from what he could tell.

Jack raised his hand to rub his eyes, then his eyes fell on Daniel. _Oy._ He looked awful. He was sitting back against the wall at the far end of Jack's pallet. Obviously, a great position from which to keep an eye on the door and on his patient. His eyes were circled with bruises and only half-opened. Every few seconds he shook his head and they opened a bit wider. He had his P90 in his hands and a pot of what Jack knew was coffee at his side. Obviously he hadn't slept at all. Jack cleared his throat and felt bad when Daniel jerked so violently he almost put a slug through the opposite wall. He blinked a few times, looking at the doorway and finding no danger. Frowning, his eyes turned automatically to meet Jack's. He smiled wearily.

"Jack!"

"That's what my mother named me." Jack said smartly, even though he felt too awful to be joking around. He could see the relief on Daniel's face as he scooted closer.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I had the flu."

Daniel nodded, "You've been running a fever all night long. It just broke around 0400."

"What time is it?"

Peering at his watch, Daniel couldn't cover his yawn. He said, "It's just after 0730. You've been sleeping pretty quietly since 0400."

Jack nodded, shifting, trying to gauge how well he felt and how much he was going to be capable of doing. Well, his leg hurt, but it was tolerable. His left hand wasn't hurting anywhere near as badly as it had been before, although it still throbbed and felt far too warm. He knew he was far from well, but for the moment he felt more or less stable and couldn't complain. "Help me up."

Instantly Daniel frowned. "I don't think so."

"Daniel."

"Jack, you've been unconscious and delirious all night long. I really think…"

"That I need to sit up for a while." Jack finished. "Daniel, I'm sore, stiff, and ache all over. I need something to drink and I'm starving."

"Really?"

"Which part?"

"You think you want to eat something?"

Jack was trying to push himself up on his elbows, "Depends on what we've got."

"Uh." Daniel slowly looked around the room, his mind felt like sludge.

"That doesn't sound good." Jack said, bringing Daniel's attention back to him. He waved his right hand, "Help me up. Now."

"Oh, yeah, ok." Daniel set aside the P90 and helped drag Jack upright. It was a bit of a struggle, but they finally got him sitting up against the wall. Daniel turned to hunt for the canteen and something for Jack to eat.

Jack willed his head to stop spinning. He breathed slowly as he tried to acclimate himself to sitting upright again. He was far weaker than he had expected. Whatever infection that animal bite had introduced to his system had been a doozy. He could only hope that he was past the worst of it. He leaned his head back against the wall and watched Daniel. He was moving slowly, almost painstakingly slowly, Jack thought. He looked like he was barely functioning. And from the way he was favoring his shoulder…

"How's the shoulder?"

Daniel froze, looking back at Jack with a frown. "What?"

Jack pointed, "Your shoulder."

"What about it?"

"Sore?"

"Yeah." Daniel nodded. "You want something to drink?"

"Yes."

"I'll get some water."

That was the moment that Jack knew that Daniel was out of it big time. He already had the canteen in his hand. Jack said, "Daniel, it's in your hand."

"What is?" Daniel asked, and then shook his head as he looked at the canteen. "Oh. Here."

Jack accepted it and, with a shaking hand, took a sip. Oh that tasted good. He was parched.

"So, how are you feeling?" Daniel asked, handing him a granola bar.

"Like I had the flu." Jack said blandly. He seemed to recall having a similar conversation with Daniel…five minutes ago.

Daniel nodded, "You've had a fever all night."

"Daniel, we already had this conversation." Jack would have smiled if he hadn't known how tired Daniel was. Daniel blinked slowly, clearly all he needed was silence for about two seconds in a row and he'd be out like a light. "Why don't you get some sleep?"

Shaking his head, Daniel said, "I can't."

"Places to go?" Jack offered, chewing on the granola bar.

"Need to keep watch."

"Daniel, I'm up. I'm going to stay up."

"You're too sick."

"I'm not going to go anywhere. I don't think I could move if I wanted to." Jack waved his hand as Daniel opened his mouth to protest. "Quiet. Give me the P90 and lay down. You're falling asleep in front of my eyes. I can keep watch from here. I'll wake you if anything happens. Just give me a quick status report."

Daniel studied him for a moment. He _was _exhausted. Long was not a strong enough word for what the night had been. It had been a never-ending nightmare. Between his concern for Jack, Sam and Teal'c and his worry about what might be knocking at their door, he'd been tense enough that he hadn't been too likely to fall asleep. Looking at Jack, he knew that he wasn't feeling well, but also that he would stay on guard for as long as needed. He also knew that he desperately needed to get some sleep himself. He had pulled enough all nighters to know when he had pushed himself beyond the point of no return. He was _way_ beyond that point now. So he sighed and nodded.

"This shelter belonged to the Jaffa who shot you. I've been checking the area outside once an hour. Quiet all night. I haven't even heard or seen any animal life. Sam and Teal'c were in the bunker when I talked to them last…which was sometime last evening. They were going to try to sleep and she said she'd call me in the morning, but I haven't heard from her since then."

Jack nodded. "Ok. Hand me the gun and the radio and go fall over somewhere."

Daniel did exactly that.

* * *

><p>It was only about 2 hours later when his radio crackled in the stillness. Jack was just slightly startled. It had been completely quiet since Daniel had lain down. And he was grateful for the quiet as he didn't feel up to defending them against a very small squirrel at this point. He'd just been sitting and thinking through all that had happened and trying to figure out what the plan should be for the day. He had the P90 in his hand, which felt good, and he had been watching the door and the falling rain beyond. He glanced at Daniel who was still dead to the world, collapsed on his side right where he'd been sitting before Jack gave him permission to fall asleep. Jack lifted his hand just as Carter's quiet voice came over the line.<p>

"Daniel? It's Sam."

"Carter."

"Colonel!" Her tired voice had a bit more life to it. "How are you, sir?"

"Sore and achy. Had the flu."

"Ah." He heard her cough before she took her finger off the button, "I see your flu and raise you pneumonia. Sir."

Jack smiled, "How are you and Teal'c?"

"Stable. Teal'c's still asleep; not looking good, but alive. I'm feeling better."

"But not much."

"No, sir. It was a long night. Sorry I didn't call earlier."

"Don't sweat it, Major. We aren't exactly doing much of anything ourselves. Daniel's finally getting some sleep and I'm on watch." He paused, adding, "Of course, that's about all I'm doing…watching the rain fall."

"No company or issues during the night?"

"Apparently not. Daniel said it was quiet. I wasn't exactly paying any attention to be honest."

"Where are you two?"

"We're in some sort of a shelter that once belonged to a Jaffa, so Daniel tells me."

"A Jaffa?"

"Yeah. Ran into him yesterday. Had a nifty energy weapon that put a neat hole in my leg. Daniel got him."

"How'd you find his shelter?"

"Again…I wasn't exactly at the top of my game at that time, Carter. Daniel was pretty much in charge. We had a brief conversation this morning, but he was so overtired we were lucky to get beyond the '_how are you feeling'_ shtick. So I'm as curious as you are about what happened yesterday evening."

There was a longer pause this time and Jack assumed, correctly, that Carter was coughing. He waited patiently until her ragged voice came over the radio again. "I'm just glad you both _are _safe."

"Back at'cha. How're you set for supplies, Major?" He rubbed at his eyes again, already feeling his strength waning yet again.

"Ok. Not great. I'm thinking of going hunting. There's a lot of meat out there."

"_Sha_ burgers?"

"It has crossed my mind. Which may indicate I'm going crazy."

"They've been sitting out in the elements for quite a while now and it hasn't been below freezing." Jack warned. "I don't know what the shelf life of an alien wolf-bear hybrid is."

"I know. It was a thought. Of course, the corpses may have already been devoured by now. Could always get a fresh one."

"There's that possibility."

There was another pause. "Sir. I think I need to go for a bit. Short of breath."

"Understood. Check-in one hour, sooner if any issues."

"Copy that. Carter out."

Jack let the radio fall to the pallet. Ok. So at least he'd heard her voice. She was alive, and so was the rest of his team. The day was starting out well. _Felt like Christmas actually_. Everything he could hope for. Well, not quite, but he was counting his blessings. He took another sip of water and leaned his head back against the wall again. Jack wanted nothing more than to be doing something. _Anything_. Sitting around in a hostile environment was not high on his list of favorite ways to spend a rainy afternoon. Unfortunately he didn't have a lot of options at this point.

Sighing, he looked over at Daniel and realized his eyes were open. It only took a moment until he started to push himself upright. Jack spoke up, "Daniel, what are you doing?"

Daniel paused, grimacing as he pushed himself up. "Getting up."

"Why?"

"I'm awake."

"I repeat. Why?"

Daniel shook his head. "I don't know. What time is it?"

"About 0940. You didn't sleep very long."

"How are you doing?"

"Better. Tired."

"Did Sam ever call?"

"Yes. They're stable and laying low for now. She didn't sound good."

Daniel nodded and rubbed his eyes. He looked around for a moment and then said, "I should change the dressing on your hand."

Jack glared at his hand. "I'd rather you didn't."

"It's infected and we need to do the best we can to keep it cleaned out." Daniel said, reaching for his pack and the bandages. Pulling out the fresh bandages, he sat down next to Jack on the pallet. Unwrapping the previous dressing, he remarked casually, "Sam seems to be holding your hand a lot recently."

"She's convinced it's going to fall off at any moment." Jack grumbled, trying not to flinch as Daniel cleaned the wound.

"I don't know if that's why."

Jack caught on, "Daniel." He shot him a warning glare.

As usual, his military intimidation techniques had no effect whatsoever on Daniel who continued, "I just think..."

"Don't."

"That there might be..."

"Daniel."

"Something more..."

"_Daniel_." A pinch louder.

"Going on there than..."

"Daniel!" A lot louder and actually quite close to Daniel's ear. That got his attention.

A pair of curious blue eyes looked up at Jack. "What?"

Jack glared back, "You know what."

Daniel studied him and decided that it would be best to let the subject drop. "Uh. Never mind."

Jack let him let the subject drop. He did _not_ want to deal with the subject that Daniel was hinting at. Bad enough that whole episode with Anise and the za'tarc fiasco. He thought they'd all left things neatly settled and in the past. But he also knew that wasn't really going to be the case. Daniel was a lot less clueless on the topic than he sometimes let on. Unfortunately Teal'c and he were too observant.

"I think it actually looks better." Daniel's voice broke into his thoughts. He pointed at Jack's hand and nodded, "The drainage is a lot less than before and it's clearer."

Jack nodded. He wasn't going to tell Daniel that he already was feeling his fever rise again.


	16. Chapter 16

It occurred to Jack that perhaps he should really give up on any thoughts of conversation in the near future. Carter had actually snapped at him, albeit very subordinately, at their last check-in. Apparently a long afternoon divided between working on an alien spacecraft and worrying about Teal'c did not make for a very friendly Major at 1750. Teal'c had not responded to him at all; probably just as well. From what Carter said, he still was looking only a shade better than dead. Jack's attempts at striking up conversations with his archaeologist had proven equally futile, although (at least so far), Daniel hadn't snapped at him. It had been a long, difficult day for all of them, and standing at the door of the little shelter looking out at the rain, Jack wasn't entirely convinced things were going to get better.

He fiddled with the button on his radio, fighting the urge to call Daniel again. Of course, if he did that he _would_ get snapped at this time. But it would be better than the silence and the uncertainty of not knowing how he was doing. Jack shook his head and dropped his hand. _Nope._ Not gonna do it. He had just touched base with him about a half-hour ago. There was no reason to bother him. Jack leaned against the rock wall and cradled his left hand close to his chest. It still hurt, but the throbbing did seem to be somewhat lessened in intensity. He still felt far too weak and the fever had not disappeared, but he was able to put two thoughts together and stand on his feet, so that was improvement at least.

Of course, standing on his feet was one thing; remaining on them for long was another. He sighed and unsteadily wobbled back to the pallet. He had spent the entire day laying on it feeling miserable and achy while Daniel had developed their battle plan. He had felt so lousy that he hadn't argued with any of Daniel's plans, which now both alarmed and annoyed him. Even half dead he should've had enough sense to shoot down Daniel's idea to go off on his own to explore the neighborhood. Daniels argument that he had survived quite well on his own on digs in isolated and dangerous locales had been something Jack hadn't been able to counter as much as he'd wanted to. Sitting back down, and feeling much better for it, Jack shakily reached for the canteen. What choice did they have anyway? He wasn't up for any traveling yet and they were completely blind as to where they were at the moment. They needed the recon. Of course, as of the last report, Daniel hadn't seen much more than the trees, rocks, and rain that they were so well accustomed to.

Jack idly picked up the book he'd been flipping through. It was in the butchered Russian of the Kamyen Obyet, but he'd been gratified to find his Russian was adequate to decipher some of the general ideas. Daniel had told him the book had belonged to the Jaffa who had lived in the shelter. His name had been Sidrok and he had been born on Kamyen Obyet. Which had struck both of them as very odd. Tormic, their guide back on the planet, had told them that it had been many generations since the Goa'uld had been overthrown. So how exactly had this Jaffa, who had been born on Kamyen Obyet, lived so long? Even by Jaffa standards, he would have been old. And Daniel reported that he hadn't looked that old at all. Jack turned to his bookmark and decided to see if he could figure out anything else from Sidrok's journal.

* * *

><p>Sam sighed and rubbed her forehead. She wished she could have stayed lying down on her pile of blankets longer instead of having to get up and work on the Glider again. But their situation was far too desperate for her to take a sick day. She had talked to Daniel around noon and he had reported that, while his hand was looking better, the Colonel was still feverish and weak. Daniel had stated that he was going to do some reconnaissance around the area while the Colonel continued to rest.<p>

After Teal'c had woken up earlier, they had discussed their own plans for the day. He was still too weak and lightheaded to move far. Sam hadn't been feeling much better, but they were desperate. So they'd had a small breakfast and some hot tea. After that, Sam had rebandaged Teal'c's wounds. She felt the first bit of relief so far. His wounds were looking better and didn't show any signs of being infected. Maybe the creatures back at the tower had some kind of poison that they had introduced into the Colonel's system whereas the _Sha_ might only have injured Teal'c. They had cleaned Teal'c's wounds fairly quickly after he'd been injured so maybe that had helped too. No matter what, it was a good thing.

They had decided the best thing was for her to head back to the workshop and try to get some more accomplished on the Glider, if possible. Having rested fairly well the night before, Sam did feel better and more confident of her abilities to avoid falling over. Her cough was loose and she'd been coughing up a lot of nasty looking stuff. She was trying to increase her fluids and she was staying on track with her antibiotics. Other than the coughing and the still present pain in her chest, exhaustion was her main symptom. She could have happily slept all day. The moment she allowed her thoughts to wander, she found her eyes sliding shut. Best to keep moving and do something productive.

And that was how she found herself back in the workshop with her hand on an alien wrench while she tried to get an alien ship back in the air. Unfortunately, she hadn't yet been able to get it to start again. Everything seemed to be wired correctly, so that was a plus. The past hour or so had been spent going back and forth on the radios with Teal'c who was giving her his best advice on maintenance. It would have been better to have him right there with her, but they were doing the best they could under the circumstances.

Of course, the constant interruptions from the Colonel had only served to elevate her frustration level. She knew he was gravely worried about them and his only method of alleviating that worry was to stay in contact with her, but it was downright irritating. She had initially been happy for the contact herself, but after several hours of trying to focus on her project and getting interrupted at least three times an hour, it was enough to wear down her patience. She hadn't intended to snap at him like she had the last time, but when he'd asked her for the tenth time how things were going, she'd lost it. She felt bad; he'd apologized and left her alone since then. He was clearly frustrated at his own illness and inability to be doing anything. Sam wiped her forehead and slid her head back into the control panel. He would be fine. They all would. They just needed a break.

* * *

><p>Daniel was thankful he had turned down his radio. Jack's constant interruptions were getting more than a little irritating. Sam had clearly been way past irritated when she'd unexpectedly snapped at Jack. Daniel had laughed. More because he was overtired than because it had been that funny. He knew neither Jack nor Sam felt good. Sam was tense and didn't need any distractions on her work; Jack was tense <em>and<em> feeling useless, never a good combination. Daniel had chosen to keep his conversations with Jack quick, optimistic, and to the point. Now, huddled up against a rock and praying with every breath he took that he had lost his pursuer, he was extremely glad for the silence.

He held the blaster at the ready as he surveyed the area. He'd been on his way back to the Jaffa's shelter with some news that would likely make Jack a bit happier. Unfortunately, for the past fifteen minutes, he'd been playing a game of hide and seek with an extremely talented shadow. Despite seeing glimpses, Daniel had yet to even determine if he was being followed by a man or a beast. That was making the experience all the more nerve-wracking. Whoever, or whatever, it was following him was extremely quick and decidedly talented. Daniel was just grateful he had even picked up on the pursuit at all. Jack would be proud. Five years ago he surely would never have noticed. Smiling slightly, he peered around the rock into the ever blinding rain.

The rumble of thunder and the falling rain were the only sounds Daniel could hear. Nothing moved. He was getting a cramp in his leg from his half-crouched position but he wasn't about to move. Concentrating on easing his breathing back to normal after his last sprint, he flicked his eyes back and forth seeking any motion in the darkness. Nothing. Still nothing. So whatever it was that was hunting him, it was smart _and_ patient. Great. He rubbed his thumb on the grip of the blaster. The only thing he was certain of at present was that he wasn't being hunted by a _Sha_. It was not a lumbering monstrosity, but something far more subtle.

A twig snapped behind him.

Daniel didn't move. His breath caught in his throat, but he didn't move a muscle. He

continued to hold that breath as he very slowly started to turn. Nothing came out of the blackness to devour him, nothing shot a gun at him, nothing happened. Turning completely around, Daniel had the blaster ready but he wasn't quite ready for what happened next. The sharp report of some kind of a weapon split the silence. Daniel dropped flat to the ground. He couldn't see anything. Another shot. Frantically, he looked over his shoulder. Whoever it was wasn't firing at him apparently. And whatever had been shot at had apparently been hit. An unholy scream came on the heels of the second shot.

This not knowing where the threat was coming from thing was getting very old. Daniel hated lying in the mud, but he valued his life enough to make it worthwhile. A wait of a split second and the suspense was over. From far to his right the scream repeated and the sound of pounding feet drew his attention. The creature that burst into his sight looked like a cheetah, slim and lithe, but instead of spots it was a stark white in the dim light. _Were all the animals on this planet white?_ Daniel couldn't help but wonder. The creature had a smear of blood down its left rear leg and it looked furious. Now the only remaining question was _who_ had shot it?

Daniel stayed frozen in place. He really didn't want to get caught in the middle because what were the chances the shooter wouldn't like to shoot him just as much? A second later and he got his first glimpse of the ethereal shooter. Cloaked entirely in black, the shooter came out of his hiding place and ran toward the creature, firing what apparently was his last shot. Tossing the weapon aside, the shooter tore out a wicked looking machete and jumped into the air to meet the oncoming creature. Straight out of a Tarzan flick, Daniel thought. Regardless of the cliché, it was an amazing move and, just like a jungle adventure movie, the creature leaped to intercept the attack.

The two met and immediately were in a tumble on the ground. Daniel instantly leapt up and ran toward the mêlée. He raised the blaster and, when the creature rose up on its hind legs and roared in a manner extremely reminiscent of a bear, he fired. The shot blew the creature five feet backward and obviously killed it instantly. Daniel skidded to a stop next to the body of the shooter. The man did not have long to live. The creature had done a quick piece of work on its assailant. Daniel knelt and immediately pressed his hands against the gushing chest wound. It wasn't going to do much to help the guy, but it was the least he could do.

The man was gasping and coughing up blood. His eyes were wide, yet curious. A surprisingly strong hand gripped Daniel's arm. "Kto?"

He wanted to know who he was. Daniel leaned closer and introduced himself, "Menyazavoot Daniel."

"Pravda." The man stated in a tone of wonderment.

Daniel frowned. What did he mean? _What_ was true? He asked, "Shto?"

"Dvyer otkryt."

_Door open._ Daniel translated in his head. Ok, but what door? He started to ask, but the man spoke up before he could.

"Domoy." _Home. _It was a whispered prayer, a last hope. And the man's last word. The dark eyes slid closed in the ghost white face as his hand fell away from Daniel's arm.

Daniel remained where he was for a moment. The warmth leaking over his hands was in sharp dissonance to the chill in the air and the ice of the man's skin. Daniel shook his head and jerked his hands back from the man. Looking down at all the blood, he felt a bit paralyzed. He certainly wasn't new to death or blood, but it was always hard to get past the shock of it. Rubbing his hands unconsciously on his pants, he took a quick look around. No signs of oncoming threats. He looked back at the dead man.

Not a Jaffa. A strongly built man, but not a Jaffa. He had spoken of home. Home where? What door was open? Daniel suddenly thought of the portal. Was _that _the door? So home was Kamyen Obyet? That didn't make a lot of sense. The man didn't look over forty. The portal hadn't been opened for generations. He must have been a descendent of one of the original Kamyen Obyet people sent through the portal by Dougrae. Shaking his head, Daniel briefly searched the man and found nothing on the body to give him any more information about the man. Daniel hated to leave the man where he was, but he didn't have a lot of options at present. Regretfully, he pushed himself to his feet, and then glanced over at the dead creature. Some fresh meat would be a nice supplement to the rapidly dwindling supplies they had on hand. A careful analysis of the body quickly destroyed that idea. There wasn't actually much left of the creature. The middle had been torn completely away and what was left was shredded. With a sigh, Daniel turned away. It _had _been a nice idea.

* * *

><p>Jack tried the radio again. Still nothing. Now initially when he'd gotten back silence from Daniel, he hadn't been concerned. They'd set up contact times and had kept to them. Jack couldn't help the fact that he was bored and had been calling more frequently than he was supposed to. So he hadn't been surprised when Daniel hadn't answered him. However, that was then, exactly forty-five minutes ago, and this was now, exactly forty-five minutes <em>later<em>. And _now_ Jack was getting worried. Daniel should have been in contact with him by now. Now the delay was not out of irritation at Jack's boredom, now the silence seemed to indicate something more sinister.

Jack didn't like it. He was feeling slightly better now and all the more useless. He'd inspected the little shelter from top to bottom and sampled the assorted food supplies and read what he could of the books. He'd recently discovered a small chest that was locked up nice and tight. That had occupied his attention for a while as he attempted to force the lock and get into the box. Yeah. Not much luck there. So he'd set it aside and started worrying about Daniel full time. Fingering the button on his radio yet again, Jack was about to hit it when he heard someone approaching. He brought up his P90 in a smooth movement and stealthily crept toward the door just as his radio crackled.

"It's me."

"You're late." Jack said aloud, seeing Daniel materialize out of the darkness. His next quip caught in his throat as he saw the blood. He shoved the makeshift door aside and grabbed Daniel's left arm. "Are you alright?"

"I'm soaked, cold, and tired. Other than that, I'm great." Daniel said huffily, brushing past him. In the last ten minutes of his trip back to the shelter, he'd fallen flat on his face twice and hit his knees at least five times. Slogging through what was now ankle deep mud in most places had left him in a very tense mood. He set his weapons down and tore off his useless rain slicker. He was freezing and all he wanted was to sit in front of the little heater and warm up.

Jack watched him make a beeline for the brazier. Turning, he pulled the door closed again, then headed back to the pallet. He turned the heat up a bit higher as Daniel tore off his soaked jacket and slid as close to the brazier as he could. Tossing him a blanket, Jack said, "I've got coffee."

"My favorite words." Daniel acknowledged, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders.

Jack poured a cup and handed it over to willing hands. As much as he wanted all the details, he knew better than to push Daniel until he had some caffeine in his bloodstream. He sat silently and tried not to wonder where the blood had come from. It took a good ten minutes before Daniel seemed warm and caffeinated enough to talk about what had happened.

"How are you feeling?" Daniel finally spoke up, already holding out the cup for a refill.

"Bored."

"Figured. And?"

"And better. Feel like I've just been through a flu on steroids. Can't complain though; at least I haven't been puking my guts up."

"Yes, for that I am also grateful." Daniel smiled slightly.

"So. Have a nice hike?"

Daniel shook his head. "Not particularly. A bit wet out."

Jack nodded and waited.

"Actually, it's getting more than a bit wet out." Daniel glanced at the rain, then looked back at Jack. "I think we're going to get flooded out if we stay here much longer."

"That the bad news?"

"You think I have good news?"

"Since you haven't said one way or another, I'm allowed to hope there is good news to follow."

"Uhhuh. Well, actually I do have some good news."

"It's about time."

"We're much closer to the castle than we thought."

"Good. How long?"

"Maybe a few hours; depends on the terrain. From what I saw it was more of the same, rocky. But at least it was still uphill."

"We leave in the morning."

"I figured. I didn't come up with much else though."

Jack pointed at Daniel's pants. "What happened?"

"A bit of hunting."

"Oh? You hunted?"

"Less doing the hunting, more being the hunted." Daniel corrected. Briefly he explained the pursuit. "Obviously there are more people here than we originally thought."

"There may be people living up in the castle." Jack mused.

"It seems quite likely. It seemed like this place was completely deserted, but clearly there were a lot of descendents of the original people sent here. This guy wasn't a Jaffa."

"Have anything on him?"

"Just the machete and his gun. It was a rifle, looked a lot like an Enfield actually. But he didn't have any more bullets. Otherwise he didn't have anything on him." Daniel shrugged. He told Jack about the man's dying words. "He seemed so surprised and hopeful at the thought of the portal being opened."

"It's probably a big legend around here. The 'other' world. The place where their ancestors came from." Jack nodded, "Besides that, they've got to be thinking anyplace is better than this." He motioned out at the rain. "So we've got to face the fact that we may be about to start yet another cultural revolution. Who knows what these people are going to do when they find out we came from Kamyen Obyet."

"Without a way back."

Jack nodded slowly and they grew silent. "What's going on with you?" Jack asked suddenly after a few minutes. He got a curious look from the other man.

"What do you mean?"

"Something's bothering you. Has been for a while. If I'm going to die…I want the answer."

"You're not going to die."

"Daniel, I'm sick with alien rabies..."

"_Alien rabies?" _Daniel smiled.

"...and weak from blood loss." Jack ignored the interruption, "Would you just hurry up and spit it out already?"

"If you _are_ dying and we have this discussion, then you have to tell me what my Christmas present is."

"Daniel, Christmas isn't for months. What makes you think I've given any thought whatsoever to Christmas presents?" Jack put on a good front, he thought, but he knew Daniel saw straight through it. _Crap!_ How had he found out?

"Teal'c told me he was with you when you bought it."

Silence. Jack stared steadily at Daniel for a long moment. Finally, he ventured, "You tortured Teal'c?"

"No, I asked nicely."

"And incessantly." Jack supplied. He shook his head very slowly, "Him being a former head honcho to a god, albeit a dead false one, I never thought he'd be such a pushover."

Daniel glared at him. "He is not a pushover. He wouldn't tell me anything." He actually sounded rather sullen.

"Ha." Jack allowed himself a brief moment of triumph. "He better not have."

"So what did you get me?"

"I'm not _that_ near to death."

"You were thirty seconds ago."

Jack shook his head.

Daniel sighed and looked away.

Jack waited. Already he could tell it was not going to be easy to get the other man to open up this time. He really hated this. But there was not time like the present and he needed to know what was bothering Daniel. It had been going on too long and, much as he didn't like the idea, he knew they needed to have a serious talk.

Finally, Daniel spoke up, "I'm tired."

When he didn't seem inclined to continue, Jack offered, "You haven't exactly had a lot of sleep in the past few days."

"That's not what I meant and you know it." He hadn't meant to be quite so snappy, but he _was_ tired and more than a little frustrated. Daniel stared out at the falling rain and tried to collect his thoughts. He really did _not_ want to be doing this right now. He didn't have a neat answer for Jack; he didn't even have a _crummy_ answer for himself. But now Jack was silently waiting, analyzing him, so he knew there was no chance of him avoiding the issue any longer. He had to toss out a bone. Sighing, he tried the first thing that came to his mind. "It seems like everything is always a constant battle."

"Well, the past few days _have _been a battle; I'll give you that." Jack responded, trying to balance his responses. He could tell that Daniel wanted to avoid talking to him and that he was well and truly exhausted and frustrated.

"Things haven't exactly been going well lately."

Jack nodded, "No, they haven't gone smoothly in recent months."

"I saw how the thing with Orlin and then K'tau affected Sam. It tore her up."

Thrown for a moment by the seemingly abrupt change in topic, Jack managed to say, "Yeah, but she's tough. She got past it."

"Did she?"

"She didn't?"

"Jack, don't be dense. She's still upset about K'tau and blaming herself for what happened. She's probably still upset about Orlin too."

"What's she got to blame herself for?" Jack asked, "She didn't do anything wrong."

"K'tau almost was destroyed because we went there."

"That is not her fault. Everything we do is a risk. We know that."

"If we hadn't gone, those people would have been fine...and our men wouldn't have been killed."

Jack gritted his teeth.

"You're still blaming yourself too."

"It was a crappy mission." Jack said quickly, not happy with the direction the conversation had gone. "We've had plenty of those before. Paraphrasing a line from good old Colonel Potter, 'The spam hit the fan'. It happens and we dust ourselves off and keep moving. All we can do."

Daniel was looking at him, considering. Finally he asked with a small smile, "Colonel Potter?"

"Man of great wisdom."

"Uh huh. Although, from an anthropological perspective, M*A*S*H was definitely a fascinating study of..."

"What are you afraid of, Daniel?" Jack interrupted quietly, sensing a rabbit trail being paved.

It was at times like these that Daniel really hated how well Jack knew him. Instead of a practiced side step, Daniel merely said very softly, "I'm afraid of what happens when it all falls apart."

"Nothing's going to fall apart. Maybe get bashed a bit, but this is not going to fall apart."

"It has before."

"Has it?" Jack stared at him steadily. "Not from where I'm sitting."

Daniel hesitated. He was overreacting and being childish. Life was life. He had to stop letting his subconscious trick him into believing the world was against him. Loss was a part of life. It was unavoidable. But he couldn't help the fact that he'd been through enough loss to feel secretly like more was always right around the corner. _Sha're_. That was when it had started to come unraveled. He didn't want to think about that. He didn't want to let the conversation go that direction. So he changed the subject.

"I have so many translations and reports waiting for me in my lab. I never have time to get that stuff done because we're out on missions."

Easy enough to fix, even if Jack knew Daniel was hedging. "If you need more time I can talk to Hammond and get you some time to catch up."

Since that wasn't even remotely what this was really about, it wouldn't help. And he didn't honestly want to bury himself in his lab. Yes, he loved translations and research. But to be honest, he always preferred field work. Alike in many ways they were not, but when it came to living for action, and yes even adventure, he and Jack were very alike. He knew Jack was waiting for a coherent comeback so he threw out half-heartedly, "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing."

"You're supposed to be doing what you've been doing since I met you: saving our butts."

"You tell me I'm more trouble than I'm worth."

"Frequently." Jack admitted easily. "And if that were even remotely true you'd never have gotten on or stayed on SG1."

Daniel nodded.

"Look, I don't care if you're feeling out of place or confused or having some sort of an identity crisis. You are exactly where you were always meant to be."

"You really mean that."

"Yes I do. If it hadn't been for you, Daniel, I wouldn't be here right now." He patted the blanket he was sitting on for emphasis.

Daniel smiled slightly.

Jack rolled his eyes, "Ok that came out wrong. So let me get it right. If you hadn't been who you are I'd be dead by now. You helped pull me through the absolute worst time of my life. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't do the same for you?"

Daniel's smile vanished instantly and he turned his eyes to the brazier.

So that _was_ it. Jack took a mental deep breath. He'd hit the right button that time. He really should've guessed it would be Sha're. No matter how long it had been, and it hadn't really been that long at all, the catastrophic loss of his wife continued to impact Daniel in ways even he wasn't fully aware of. It had been torment, those first two and a half years or so, watching him worry and wonder and do absolutely everything in his power to look for her. Jack had wanted Daniel on SG1 for multiple reasons including the simple reason that if he hadn't been on SG1 he probably would have never found a way to build a meaningful life for himself. Sure, he would have stayed on at the SGC deciphering any writing the teams brought back and he would have trusted that Jack would do everything in his power to find and save Sha're. But it wouldn't have been enough. He would have isolated himself and worked himself to death. He needed to be on the team just to give him some balance in life and show him he wasn't alone.

And that had worked. Until she'd died. That was when Jack had really started to worry. That was when Daniel had really started to get lost. Before that he'd had a personal purpose and goal; suddenly he was without direction. Jack still saw a purpose, a goal, and a direction for him; the problem was that Daniel didn't see it. Things had been rocky for a while but they'd all seemed to regain their equilibrium as a team and come through everything stronger than before. But that hadn't changed the fact that Daniel still had yet to regain his _personal_ equilibrium. Sure, he seemed like everything was ok and he would never give anyone the smallest inkling that he was unhappy if he could help it. But he wasn't as good at hiding it as he liked to think he was.

Watching him stare blankly at the little heater, Jack tried to find the best way to reengage his friend and hash things out a bit more. He had been avoiding the situation for weeks. He had ignored, brushed off and in every other way buried his head in the sand. _Some friend._ He could tell that Daniel meant every word he had spoken. But there was more to it. The trick was to get Daniel to talk. Before he could think of a new method, Daniel spoke up softly.

"I just don't know if I'm accomplishing anything."

"You're too hard on yourself." Jack said.

"And you're not?" Daniel asked half-heartedly.

Jack couldn't deny it. "So, what? You want to leave?"

"No."

Well that had sounded both genuine and sure. Jack felt better about that. He waited. After a moment, Daniel met his eyes briefly, then looked away as he whispered, "I miss her."

Jack nodded, now that was more like it. First step in solving a problem was to first admit there was a problem. Daniel had been trying to dodge that bullet for months. Covering it up with every excuse in the book wasn't going to help him heal and find a reason to start living again. Jack started to open his mouth when the radio interrupted the moment. Cursing mentally at the timing, he picked up the radio.

"Sir."

"Carter. How's it going?"

"Actually, good for a change!" There was life to her voice for the first time in a very long time.

"Excellent. How so?"

"The Glider is operational."

"Take it for a test drive?"

"Not yet. I want Teal'c to do a final check of everything before we commit to that." She coughed, then went on, "I'm going to call it a night and he's going to come over with me in the morning. We may be joining you sometime tomorrow."

"Sounds great, Major." Jack smiled at her enthusiasm. He was relieved at the news. Having all the members of his team together again would make him feel a lot better. He listened with half his attention as she ran through a few technical details that he really didn't need to know. Daniel had chosen to take her call as a heaven-sent way to avoid further discussion. He had already lain down and rolled over with his back to Jack.

"So I'll give you a call in the morning, sir." Carter finished.

"We'll be waiting. Get some sleep, Carter."

"Yes sir. Carter out."

Jack set the radio down and looked over at Daniel. "Daniel, you can have the bed, such that it is." He got no reply. Sighing, Jack thought initially that Daniel was just ignoring him. He decided to refill the coffee pitcher and rose unsteadily to head for the water basin. He realized then that Daniel was already sound asleep. Shaking his head, he set the pitcher on the brazier and piled a few more blankets over his friend. He sat back down on the cot and picked up the book he'd been reading. What he'd discovered could wait until Daniel had gotten some sleep.

* * *

><p>Teal'c allowed himself a small smile and a sense of accomplishment. He had managed to heat up their last MRE and make coffee. Considering yesterday he had been uncertain whether or not he would ever be able to sit up again, that was impressive. He had spent the entire day resting in bed and most of that time he had been in Kel'no'reem. He had checked in with Major Carter over the radios periodically. They had decided before she had left for the workshop that it would be best to minimize how many times she would have to go back and forth. Other than his contacts with her, he had allowed himself the luxury of deep, healing meditation. Thankful that in their dire situation they at least had a safe place in which to stay, Teal'c knew his body was growing stronger. He would not be completely healed for some time yet, but he was almost functional again.<p>

He glanced at his watch. Another ten minutes and Major Carter would be returning. She had reported that the Glider was operational at last. She did not have confidence in its ability to fly yet, but it was otherwise in decent shape. The plan was for him to join her in the morning and lend his expertise to her efforts. Teal'c tossed another piece of wood into the fire. Thankfully, Colonel O'Neill had torn apart one of the wooden shelves in the supply room and made a neat stack before he'd left. So they weren't going to run out of wood at least until tomorrow. Teal'c eased his head back against the wall to wait for Major Carter's arrival. He had no sooner done that then there was a loud metallic knock. Opening his eyes, and preparing to go help Major Carter slide the heavy bunker door open, Teal'c froze in place. The knocking sounded again. He looked across the room.

The knock was not coming from the bunker door that led to the outside. It was coming from the other door; the one that led back down the staircase to the warehouse full of bodies…


	17. Chapter 17

Sam slid the control panel closed and breathed a sigh of relief and, inevitably, coughed. Clutching her side, she grimaced. The pain wasn't any better, but it wasn't any worse either. Once the coughing spell had passed, she allowed herself that feeling of relief again. It felt good to be done working on the glider. She still wasn't sure if it was going to fly properly or not; but that was something that would have to wait for Teal'c. Pausing for a moment to survey the tools she had spread out around the room Sam decided to leave everything right where it was and hurry back to the bunker. She hadn't heard from Teal'c in a while, which hopefully meant he was resting. But she'd been gone all day and she really didn't like the thought of him being alone any longer. Besides which she was growing increasingly jumpy.

She had started out the day well enough after the somewhat nerve-wracking journey from bunker to workshop. Engrossed in her work, she had been able to ignore the aloneness and just focus on the task at hand. However, over the last hour or so, she'd begun to lose her focus. Every little sound around her suddenly seemed louder. She had been jumping quite a bit and she hated that feeling. Now, with her nerves on extra alert she was going to have to make the return trip in the dark. She wasn't looking forward to it at all. Weariness set in hours ago and her hope was for a good night's sleep. But first she had to make it back to the bunker safely. The day hadn't been entirely without its scares.

She had paused her work for nearly twenty minutes a few hours earlier after she'd heard movement outside. Blaster in her hand, she had peered out a small window on the second floor of the workshop. There were two_Sha_ wandering around, picking at the flesh of the other beasts that she and Daniel had killed. Her heart had thudded loudly, but the animals never gave any sign of noticing her presence. After a few trips around the neighborhood, the animals had disappeared back into the trees. Sam strapped her pack on again and un-holstered the blaster. With a final glance around the room, she turned out the lamps she had lit earlier and headed for the door.

* * *

><p>Initially, Teal'c thought that he'd been mistaken. Surely he had heard wrong. He looked across the room to the door that led outside and waited. The knocking came again, most definitely from the <em>other<em> door. Despite his years of training and discipline, he felt his heart thud hard in his chest at the unexpected sound. He did not believe in what the Tau'ri called ghosts. At least not in principle. However, since joining SG1, he had seen many things he would have never believed as a younger man. Stranger things had happened. So it was with a wary and somewhat curious attitude, he rose to his feet. His hand longed for the familiar and comforting solidity of his staff weapon. All he had was a zat close at hand, so that was what he grabbed. He found himself still weak and dizzy as he walked, needing to lean heavily against the wall with his one hand to maintain his balance. The knocking came again, redoubled in its intensity. Whoever wanted to come in was either very eager or very desperate.

Teal'c finally reached the door. He slid the makeshift barricade he had created the first night aside and stood away from the door, zat ready for whoever was coming through. After a tentative effort at pushing the door yielded results, the mysterious visitor shoved harder and stumbled into the room. Teal'c had not expected the person who came through to fall flat on their face in a sobbing heap. He ignored the prone form for a moment and moved quickly to peer beyond the door. It was pitch black and he could see no other person. So he slid the door shut again and replaced his barricade. Then he turned to study his guest. The man was shivering uncontrollably and had his face buried in the crook of his elbow.

Teal'c stepped back and finally spoke up, "Who are you?" The sobbing abated somewhat and the man struggled to compose himself. After a few seconds, he pushed himself up to his knees and peered up at Teal'c with one hand still attempting to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness. Teal'c was taken aback. The unexpected guest was Tormic of the Kamyen Obyet.

* * *

><p>When Sam pushed open the door of the bunker, having safely traversed the dark and rainy path from the workshop again, she had hoped to see Teal'c looking better. She had hoped that there would be something hot to drink and eat waiting for her. She had certainly not expected to find they had company. She didn't even notice the man at first. She'd been so focused on getting inside, getting the door closed and bolted, and then getting out of her wet things. Only after she'd pulled off her rain slicker and really focused on the room did she notice the extra person. With a sharp gasp, she instinctively reached for her P90.<p>

Teal'c's calm voice stilled her, "Do not fear, Major Carter. I have already searched him and he is without weapons."

She allowed her hand to relax and walked closer, studying the man who was kneeling on the ground with one hand up to his eyes. He slowly turned as she approached, and moved his hand aside, squinting up at her. Sam exclaimed, "Tormic!"

"Indeed." Teal'c nodded, walking over to the edge of the fireplace to sit down again. Once again he was reminded of his weakness. It was not a good feeling. Tormic's eyes flicked back and forth between Teal'c and Sam, but he remained still.

Sam warily dragged her eyes from Tormic to Teal'c and asked, "If I'd known we were having company I would have picked up some Chinese."

Teal'c allowed himself a small smile. "I too was unaware of our guest's plans."

"So what exactly happened here?"

"He arrived only moments ago. There was a knocking on the door," he indicated the door that led to the stairs, "I opened the door and he entered."

"He said anything?"

"He has not."

Sam nodded. Tormic was studying his hands, and had slumped into a sitting position. Sam asked Teal'c, "What do you suppose is going on?"

'I do not know."

"Well, we're going to need to find out." She studied the man for a moment. He looked absolutely awful. He was shivering, clearly exhausted and looked thirsty and hungry. His lips were dry and cracked and he had clearly lost weight even in the short time since she'd last seen him. Sam sighed, "Let's get him something to drink and eat." She grabbed a blanket off the cot and tossed it at Tormic. The man slid his eyes up to her briefly, then tentatively grabbed the blanket. He wrapped it around his shoulders as she headed for the fire. Sam grabbed a cup and filled it with some coffee, extending it to Tormic. She smiled and nodded when he pointed at himself. He finally accepted it and moved closer to the fire at her urging.

Sam sat down next to Teal'c in front of the fire. "We're going to have to do some long distance translating."

Teal'c nodded.

Sam sipped her own coffee, then reached for her radio. "Sir, this is Carter."

It took a full minute, but then a hoarse voice answered, "What's up, Carter?"

"We have some unexpected news."

"This has all been a nightmare and you're going to wake me up?" He sounded groggy.

"No."

"Figured as much. It wouldn't be good news, would it?"

Sam studied Tormic who was clinging to his coffee like it was everything he'd ever dreamed of in his entire life. "Well, sir, at this moment, I'm only sure that it's unexpected news."

"OK, what is it?"

'"We have some company. Tormic to be exact."

"Tormic?" The voice was a bit sharper. "Tormic push us through the portal Tormic?"

"That would be the one."

"Ok. How did that happen?"

"Exactly, sir. We're not sure. He just came up from the warehouse on the stairs. He's alone and he's in rough shape."

"What's he got to say for himself?"

"Well, that's the thing, sir. He hasn't said anything yet and I don't know very much _regular_ Russian, let alone the Kamyen Obyet version. I could say hello and some other basic pleasantries, but those aren't really going to get me very far. I need Daniel to translate."

There was another hesitation, then the Colonel's voice came back, "Give me about five minutes to wake him up and get some coffee into him or he's not going to be able to do any better than you or I could. He just fell asleep."

"Understood." Sam bit her lip. She hated to be waking him up, but they really didn't have much of an option. She watched as Teal'c offered Tormic some dried fruit and a protein bar. The man accepted it as if he hadn't seen food in days. _Maybe he hadn't_. Sam thought to herself. She thought back to their own struggles from the past days. Tormic must have come through the Portal after them. He'd been on his own all this time. They were at least trained and prepared for these sorts of survival experiences. What training had he had? Besides which, they'd had supplies and were together. He'd been on his own and apparently had only the clothes on his back.

She said softly to Teal'c, "What do you suppose happened to him?"

Teal'c inclined his head, "Impossible to say. I would assume that he was sent through after we were."

"Why?"

"Perhaps they feared him because he had been so involved with us."

"Or perhaps they sent him to spy on us." Sam whispered, keeping a wary eye on the man. Tormic didn't even seem to notice they were having a conversation at all. He had his eyes closed and was once more hovering over his coffee cup.

"Sam, it's Daniel."

Sam smiled and put her hand to her radio, "Hey, Daniel. Sorry to wake you."

"It's OK. So you have some company?"

"Yep. I'm hoping you can find out why exactly."

"I'll try. Is he around?"

"Yes, hang on and I'll give the radio to him." Sam slid off her perch and eased down on the floor next to Tormic. The man regarded her blandly. He was so different from how he had been on Kamyen Obyet. Sam felt sorry for him. He had been full of energy and excitement as he led them all around town and talked Daniel's ear off. He had been friendly to all of them despite the language difference. Now, he just looked defeated. She smiled at him tentatively and extended the radio. He knew what it was and how to work it because Daniel had showed it to him back on the planet. Besides which he was from a technologically advanced planet which had communication devices that were probably even more advanced than theirs.

Daniel's voice came over the radio a moment later speaking what was clearly a greeting in Russian. Tormic glanced at the radio in Sam's hand and reached for it once he heard his language spoken. Sam sat back a bit to give him room. She was glad they were already acquainted and that he understood what was going on. So much easier than it might otherwise have been.

Tormic spoke back into the radio in a voice laced with exhaustion. For fifteen minutes he and Daniel went back and forth. Sam chewed on her beef jerky and shrugged at Teal'c. She wished Daniel would have been translating as he went, but she realized what a pain that would be. So she tried to be patient. She couldn't help but smile when she heard the Colonel's voice in the background griping, "_For crying out loud, Daniel, what's he saying?_"

He got no answer as Daniel just kept talking. Sam could clearly picture their faces during this exchange. Just thinking about their expressions of aggravation with one another made her miss them suddenly. It hadn't been that long since she'd seen them, but with the worries and dangers around all of them, it felt like weeks. She looked back at Tormic as he began shouting rather enthusiastically. He shouted for a full minute before falling silent. There were tears in his eyes. Sam frowned. It took almost two minutes before Daniel's voice came back over the radio. Apparently he'd had to explain that last part to the Colonel before being allowed to continue.

Daniel was using his most calm and reassuring negotiating voice, she noticed. It always made her feel safe when he talked like that. Even in the most heated of exchanges, she felt better knowing he was trying to be the voice of reason. Unfortunately, so very few people ever wanted to listen to that voice of reason, she mused. The voice of reason continued for another few seconds, then fell silent. Tormic studied Sam and Teal'c impassively for a moment before nodding slowly and offering a very small, tentative smile. Sam smiled back and his smile grew wider. He pressed the button on the radio again and he and Daniel went back and forth for a few more minutes. Finally, Tormic nodded again and handed the radio back to Sam with a respectful bow.

"Sam?"

"Hey, Daniel. Sounds like that was quite an interesting conversation."

"Yes, yes it was actually."

The Colonel's voice was loud in the background, "Might be nice if you _translated_ since that's what we brought you along for in the first place."

"Oh is that why? I thought it was to save your butt."

"My butt does not need saving."

Sam smiled, relieved to hear some humor between the two of them. She was also amused by the fact that Daniel had left his finger on the button. She wondered if the Colonel realized that she and Teal'c were hearing all of this.

Daniel went on, "Seems like I remember someone getting shot by a Jaffa and someone else shooting that Jaffa."

"It wasn't my _butt_ that got shot." The Colonel grumbled.

"No, but it _was _your butt that I dragged for the next 8 hours through the mud and rain..."

"It was not 8 hours..."

"How would you know? You were incoherent the entire time."

Teal'c rolled his eyes. Sam was sure of it. She smiled. Tormic just looked mildly confused. There was a long pause and silence. Sam could almost visualize the Colonel looking more closely and realizing Daniel had been transmitting the entire time.

"Daniel." Sure enough, that voice was a bit colder now.

"So, Sam..." Daniel picked up immediately, "I'll just go through this all at once for everyone's benefit."

"I wish you would." The Colonel's mutter was a bit more distant.

"Apparently we caused even more of a ruckus than we originally thought. After we were forced through, things didn't really get better over there. Actually, they got worse. Tormic says that his people feared that he was in cahoots with us, or had been brainwashed by us. They didn't trust him anymore and felt that we'd brought disaster upon them and that Tormic was a co-conspirator. "

"Disaster? How'd we bring disaster?"

Sam could just barely hear the Colonel in the background.

"For one thing we opened the Portal. Remember when I said they called it the _Door to Death_? Well, there is a lot of superstition around it. They hadn't seen it opened in generations. We're on their planet for barely a day and we open it, however inadvertently. But there's more. After we went through, things started to change. Namely the weather. Tormic said that they began getting terrible storms not long after we left."

"The weather is transferring back through the Portal?" the Colonel asked exactly what Sam would have interjected if Daniel would ever let up on his radio button.

"Apparently."

"The weather can go back through, but we can't?"

"That's not a question I can answer."

"Carter." The Colonel's voice was louder. "Daniel let go of that button and let the woman talk."

Sam smiled and waited a few seconds, then spoke up. "Sir, I'm not sure at this point that _I _can answer that question either. I don't have enough of an idea what kind of technology we're dealing with in the first place to even guess. It doesn't make a lot of sense at first, but remember the black hole..." She paused, coughing hard. She grabbed a sip of water.

"I try very hard not to." The Colonel's voice came over the radio during the pause. "Besides that was through the gate."

"I know. And maybe this Portal doesn't work the same way at all, but maybe it does. Like I said, we still have no idea _what_ exactly the Portal is. Is it a type of gate, is it an Alternate Reality Mirror, is it something else?" She coughed till she was breathless.

Teal'c reached for his own radio while she tried to catch her breath. "Daniel Jackson, did Tormic offer no information on what the Portal is?"

"Hey, Teal'c! Good to hear your voice. No, he doesn't know any more about it than we do. Anyway, a few hours after the weather got bad, the government officials decided that Tormic was to blame and threw him into the Portal."

"So the Portal is still active?" Sam interjected.

"Yes. They couldn't figure out how to shut it down so they sent him through; maybe to appease the Portal gods, I don't know. Anyway, Tormic barely made it out of the ocean alive. He ended up at a rocky coastline somewhere. He said he didn't see the Tower so he must have washed up somewhere farther away from where we landed. After wandering around for several days, he found one of the Ring Devices and transported to the warehouse. He wandered around the warehouse until he found the stairs. He's been living off whatever plant life he could find so it's no wonder he was in bad shape. He did explain one thing. I asked him if he knew anything about the warehouse and he actually had an explanation for the way we found the bodies. Apparently, it's a Kamyen Obyet practice. They gather their dead and inject the bodies with some sort of a preservative."

"What for?"

Sam heard the Colonel in the background again.

"Think Snow White."

There was a long silence.

Sam keyed her radio, "Snow White? As in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?"

"Exactly."

"I don't get it."

"Thank you, Carter." The Colonel took over, "I'm glad I'm not alone. What are you talking about?"

Daniel came back on and explained patiently, "They don't bury their bodies, they display them in memorial. Like Snow White and her glass coffin."

"If you'd said that the first time I would have understood."

Sam smiled. "OK, so that at least explains that mystery a bit. They had an awful lot of bodies down there, though."

"Yeah, Tormic said he figured that there was some kind of battle or war that broke out between the Jaffa and Kamyen Obyet survivors who were sent through here. The bodies eventually piled up. That was why some of them looked more rotted than others."

There were a few moments of silence. Sam looked at Tormic and felt even worse for the guy. It wasn't his fault that she'd activated the Portal and he'd been thrown to the proverbial wolves. His eyes were drooping and he was wavering where he sat. She keyed her radio again, "He's about to fall asleep. Anything else important, or do you want to just tell him he can get some rest?"

"He begged me to figure out why this was happening and to fix it. He said that whether or not he is ever able to go home he doesn't want his world destroyed like this one."

Sam nodded. "OK. Explain to him that he can get some rest and we can talk more in the morning. Be quick or he's going to fall over."

Daniel was quick and Tormic looked tremendously relieved. He followed Sam's pointing finger to one of the cots and collapsed on it, pulling the cover up to his chin. He was out like a light. Sam smiled and spoke more softly into the radio, "Thanks, he's tucked in for the night."

"Good." There was a pause, then Daniel came back on, "Sam, Jack just asked me if I thought he was any danger to you guys. I can't be certain, of course, but I don't think so."

"Carter, Teal'c, I want you to use every precaution anyway." The Colonel's voice overtook Daniel's. "Just because he looks like a drowned rat doesn't mean he _isn't _one. A rat that is. Keep watch and keep him away from weapons. He may not speak English, but his people were advanced enough for him to figure out weapons. I don't want to take any chances. Understood?"

"Yes, sir. I was thinking the same thing."

"Good. Now, how are you two doing?"

"Not too bad. Going to have something to eat then get some rest."

"How are you feeling?"

Sam and Teal'c exchanged glances, "We're doing much better. How about you, sir?"

"Doing great, Major. You still planning to pick us up in the morning?"  
>Sam sighed, "Well, that depends on what Teal'c thinks when he looks at the glider in the morning. Everything seemed right to me, but I'm not an expert. Of course, we now have an additional passenger."<p>

"Uhhuh. Thought of that. I guess we can't just leave him."

"Of course not, Jack!"

Sam smiled hearing Daniel in the background.

"So we'll see how things look in the morning. Might have make two trips."

"Yes sir."

"Well get some rest, the both of you, and be careful."

"Yes sir, we will. You two be careful as well. Carter out."

Sam rose and rejoined Teal'c at the fireplace. "So, Teal'c, how are you doing?"

"I am feeling much stronger, Major Carter."

"Good. I should take a look at your dressings though. I don't want you getting an infection."

"As you wish. Would you prefer to eat first?"

Sam smiled, "Actually that's a good idea. I'm starving."

* * *

><p>Jack had been feeling a lot better...right up to the moment Carter had told him her unexpected news. Maybe Tormic <em>was<em> just a poor guy with some very bad luck. Or he could be dangerous. Jack didn't know. The only thing he knew was that he wasn't feeling so at ease anymore. He also wasn't feeling so great. The conversation had taken more out of him than had expected and he was grateful to just be sitting still on the pallet with nowhere pressing to be. He didn't like that two of his people were still under the weather and now had a potential threat in their midst.

He sighed and glanced over at Daniel who was sitting up against the opposite wall rubbing his eyes. Jack glanced at his watch. Nearly 1850. Time to eat and then to get some rest. "Dinner?"

Daniel nodded slowly, but didn't look up.

Jack went on, "I'm thinking burgers. Fries. Big tall coke."

"That's what we had last weekend. Pizza." Daniel countered, leaning his head back against the wall and looking up at Jack with a smile.

"Fine. Pizza." Jack shrugged, reaching for their last MRE. "I'll cook."

"Give it here." Daniel said after a moment of watching Jack fumble with the package. His hand was still too weak and hurt too much for him to manage opening it.

Jack tossed it to him. "So."

"So what?"

"What do you think about Mr. Tormic?"

"I think he was pretty upset. And, no, I don't think he's as much of a threat as you think he is."

"I didn't say anything."

"You've been thinking it from the moment Sam said his name."

Jack shifted and lifted his leg up on the pallet. "All right, I'll give you that. Yes, I've been thinking he could very well be a threat. But, contrary to what _you've_ been thinking all this time...I have an open mind and I'm not convinced that he's a threat."

Daniel peered at him doubtfully over his glasses as he prepared the MRE.

Soon they were eating their last warm meal if they didn't find some civilization in the near future. They ate in a silence disturbed only by the rain. Jack suddenly snapped his fingers. Daniel looked up in surprise.

"I forgot to tell you. I figured out why the rain won't stop."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. While you were out playing in the mud I was reading this guy's journals."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "They're in a botched version of Russian."

"Yes and that made it very challenging to read." Jack hesitated, then said, "Let's put it this way. I think I _mostly_ figured out why the rain won't stop."

"OK. So why won't the rain stop?"

"It's a manufactured weather pattern. From what I could figure out, our friend Dougrae liked to mess around with things he shouldn't. He created the weather pattern and couldn't stop it. I think it's cyclical. I was getting the idea of 'seasons' or changes where it wasn't always so bad."

"Interesting. I wonder why he was messing with weather?"

"Got me. Maybe he was trying to create perfect weather to help with crops or something. That's something I didn't get out of the journal. I figured you could fill in the pieces."

Daniel nodded, "Where is it?"

"I didn't mean right now." Jack shook his head. "It'll keep till the morning."

"What else have we got to do?" Daniel waved his hand around the room.

"Well, sleep for one thing. Seems like that's something we've been running a little short on lately." Jack said. "Let's switch places. You can have the bed and try to get some more sleep. I'll stay on watch."

"Jack, I'm fine. You're the one who has alien rabies, remember?"

"I think it wasn't quite as terminal as I initially thought. Just shut up and get over here and get some sleep before I change my mind." He forced himself to get to his feet, a move which had grown even more difficult since the last time he had done so. He limped away from the pallet and slid down the wall near to the door.

Daniel sighed and nodded. "Wake me at 2200."

"I will."

* * *

><p>As it turned out, Jack didn't wake him at 2200. His leg was bothering him so much that, despite the painkiller he downed after eating, he wouldn't have gotten any sleep anyway. Daniel was sleeping like the dead and Jack saw no reason to wake him since he himself wasn't going to be able to sleep. So instead he decided to redress his own wounds and tried not to worry about their situation. Since his leg was already hurting, he told himself it couldn't hurt any <em>worse<em> because of his attempts to clean and rebandage it. He didn't really believe his own lies, but it felt good to think positively. He cursed under his breath as he looked at his hand. The wound still looked angry, but the drainage was a bit clearer. The bad news was that his hand was quite swollen and, on top of being painful to move, it had also grown numb over the past few hours. It hurt, to be sure, but that was about the only feeling he had in it. He rubbed his eyes with his good hand, grateful that at least he'd been bit on his non-dominant hand. He could still shoot.

With a sigh, he got back to business and re-wrapped his hand. The wound in his leg was neat and clean and didn't seem to be infected or going to cause him any long-term issues. Shaking his head, he set aside the old bandages and leaned over to turn up the brazier. The temperature had steadily been going down. He wondered if that meant the weather pattern was going to be getting worse, or if he'd just been so fevered before he hadn't noticed it being this cold. He was strongly considering grabbing another blanket when Daniel suddenly stirred, then sat up in a big hurry. Jack wasn't sure he was all the way awake at first, but he sure woke up fast when he made the bad decision to push himself upright using his right arm.

Daniel swore sleepily, instantly cradling his right arm against his chest.

"Good morning to you." Jack said mildly.

"What?" Daniel asked through gritted teeth. He looked over at him blearily.

"I said good morning. Why are you up?"

It took a moment, and then Daniel started looking around the room, "I need my jacket."

"Yeah, I know. It's a bit nippy. I just turned up the heat."

"What?" Daniel looked back at him in confusion. "No, not that...I just remembered something."

"In your sleep?"

"Yes." Daniel got up, seeing his jacket hanging across the little space. He grabbed it with his left hand and tried to get into a pocket without using his right arm. He was struggling rather badly.

"Daniel, give it here. What are you looking for that is so important it woke you from a sound sleep?"

Daniel tossed him the jacket in frustration and slumped next to him, rubbing his shoulder. "I just remembered I still had this little bag that was on Sidrok. I never even looked inside it."

Jack found the little leather pouch and waved it. "This?"

"That."

"I think it could have waited until morning. You only got what? Six hours of sleep?"

Daniel ignored him and instead reached for it quickly opening it and pouring the contents onto the floor between them. The bag contained few items. There were several strips of what looked like dried meat and some stained paper. There was also a small folding knife and a tiny picture which Jack picked up. He held it to the light. It was an expertly drawn sketch of a gorgeous Jaffa woman. Sidrok's wife, Jack assumed. He showed it briefly to Daniel who nodded. The last item in the pouch was an unusually designed, square shaped key. Daniel picked it up and turned it over in his hand.

"Do you suppose that fits that box?" Jack asked, "I tried everything to get it open yesterday."

Daniel nodded, "I think it's a good bet." He handed the key to Jack who gazed at it more closely as Daniel got up and dragged the box over. Jack tried fitting the key into the lock. Sure enough, there was a very positive click. Their eyes met.

"Place your bets now." Jack said, as Daniel lifted the lid. "I'm hoping for a pair of ruby slippers that are just Carter's size so we can go home."

They stared into the box for a moment. Jack said, "Huh."

"Those look important." Daniel commented.

Nodding, Jack reached in and picked up one of the crystals. It was a steel blue, less translucent than most control crystals he'd seen. There were five crystals in the box, each a different color, each smaller and more opaque than typical crystals. "So what do you suppose these go to?"

"The Portal?" Daniel offered.

"Could be."

"Or something else. They aren't ordinary crystals though, are they?"

"Don't look ordinary to me. Not the kind that go in the DHD or in a Goa'uld vessel. At least not one's I've seen before. Hopefully Carter or Teal'c will have an idea."

"Hopefully." Daniel agreed, leaning his head back against the wall.

Jack replaced the crystal and closed the box. He didn't see any point in locking it so he just left it where it was. He glanced at his watch. Just after one AM. He looked back at Daniel who had his eyes closed. "Daniel, go back to sleep."

"You didn't get me up at 2200."

"Nope. I was fine."

"Why don't you get some sleep now. I'm up."

"You don't need to be."

"What's your plan for today?" Daniel changed the subject.

"Take a hike to the castle. I'm sick of sitting here."

Daniel opened his eyes and looked at him doubtfully. "Are you feeling up to it?"

Jack nodded. "I'd rather get there sooner than later. If Teal'c and Carter get that Glider flying it will be easier for them to find us if we're up at the castle rather than sitting here hidden in the middle of the wilderness."

"Ok. So get some sleep for a few hours. It'll be light in maybe four hours and we can get going."

Jack shook his head. "I'm not going to be able to get any sleep."

"Your hand hurting?"

"My leg."

"You take something?"

"Yes. And I already cleaned and rebandaged them so don't you dare try to do that now."

"OK. So lay down for a while. You're still pretty weak and I'm betting that you're going to find the hike a bit harder than you'll ever want to admit. I'm awake now. I won't be able to sleep anymore."

Jack hated that he agreed with everything Daniel had just said. As much as he hated admitting it, he _knew_ he was going to find the hike harder than he'd ever want to admit. He just nodded and forced himself to his feet and over to the pallet. He wasn't going to be able to sleep, but at least he could close his eyes and rest for a bit. He settled in under the covers, watched Daniel put on his glasses and reach for another book...and then he fell asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

"Major Carter." Teal'c's voice was gentle. He leaned close to the Major and gently brushed her hair away from her eyes. She had been growing more restless over the last hour and he could tell her fever had risen. He reached for the canteen and a scrap of cloth. Wetting the cloth, he laid it on her forehead. At that, she stirred.

Eyes opening blearily, Sam gazed up at Teal'c who was looking down at her with a concerned expression on his face. "Teal'c?" She whispered, "What is it?"

"You are very ill, Major Carter. You need to drink some water and take some medications."

Water seemed like a very good idea, Sam thought. Her mouth was parched and her

throat sore. But she was so weak she wasn't sure she could even lift her head. Teal'c seemed to realize this, because he was already gently lifting her head up and holding the canteen to her dry lips. The trickle of cool water on her lips and going down her throat was heavenly. It was difficult to swallow, but at least some of the water went down. _When had it gotten so hot in the bunker_? Sam wondered, feeling incredibly warm. Teal'c eased her head back down on the folded blanket she was using as a pillow and reached for the med kit.

He had been on watch since midnight and most of his time had been spent watching Major Carter toss and turn in an uncomfortable sleep. They had spent an hour or two the previous evening sitting up and talking over their situation while Tormic slept soundly. It had been good to talk with Major Carter. Teal'c had realized at that point how long the previous days had been for both of them with such minimal interaction. They both felt unwell, but the quiet evening spent before the fire just enjoying each other's company had been exactly what they had needed. While neither of them particularly felt that Tormic bore them any ill will or was any threat, they were taking no chances and had swapped watches as planned. Tormic had not stirred all night.

Teal'c pulled out the antibiotics and the Tylenol and turned back to Major Carter. She was still awake, looking up at him with red-rimmed eyes. She was flushed and had been in and out of consciousness for the past hour or so. She seemed much worse than she had yesterday, which Teal'c felt was not at all a good sign. Thankfully, he was feeling much stronger. Even so, he was not at all deluding himself into believing he was back to his full strength or stamina yet. He knew just from being up the past three hours or so that he was going to weaken very easily. He glanced once more at Tormic before assisting Major Carter with the medications. She managed to swallow them, although it caused her to cough badly. Teal'c wiped her mouth with a clean cloth as she coughed up some greenish sputum.

"Thanks." Sam whispered. She struggled to breathe against the stabbing pain in her chest.

Teal'c took in her struggles and in an easy movement, lifted her into a sitting position. He sat next to her on the cot and held her upright. She slumped against his side, her head against his chest. She was shivering badly and he pulled the blanket up over her. She was leaning a bit on one of his injuries, Teal'c discovered painfully, but he remained still. The pain was far more manageable today. He listened to her ragged breathing and found himself growing yet more concerned. There was little he would be able to do for her beyond what he had already been doing. Thankfully, after a few moments sitting upright, she was breathing a bit easier.

Sam had thought two days ago that she couldn't possibly feel worse, yet here she was...feeling much worse. The previous evening she had actually held out hope that she was getting better. But as soon as she'd lain down, that hope had quickly been dispelled. She'd had pneumonia before, in grad school. Hadn't that made a mess of her life for a while? Ignoring the symptoms of extreme fatigue and that nagging persistent cough, she had pushed herself on to finish the semester, only to wind up in the hospital for a few days. IV antibiotics and lots of mandatory rest had been required to get her back on her feet and she'd still felt like crap for weeks afterward. Now, she was on an alien planet without any hope of those types of medications and a nice warm hospital bed. Although, right now, cuddled up against Teal'c, she felt warm and cozy enough. Suddenly, the word "cuddle" used in the same thought as "Teal'c" struck her as very funny. Oh boy was she in trouble. She giggled.

Teal'c looked down in surprise. At first, he'd assumed his patient was about to cough, but instead he heard a tiny giggle. He frowned and looked at her more closely. "Major Carter?"

"Sorry, Teal'c." She whispered, inadvertently snickering again. _Way_ way too tired. "Just thinking."

"I see." He raised his eyes to the fireplace across from them. Normally he would have left it right there. The musings and amusements of the Tau'ri often left him confused and he had discovered leaving them to their own devices...then "Googling" the topic of their amusement gave him a much better understanding than if he asked one of them. Daniel Jackson gave factual information, but he often tended to give _too much_ factual information. Major Carter also tended to go far beyond what Teal'c actually required. O'Neill was the least trustworthy of the group, Teal'c had discovered from often painful experience. Truly, his most trusted (and concise) sources for information were Dr. Fraiser, Cassandra, or Siler. Still, it was 0300 in the morning on a dismal alien planet and he was just feeling out of sorts enough to engage her in what might likely be an interesting conversation.

So he asked, "Major Carter, what are you thinking about?"

"Cuddling." Sam could have zatted herself. She was just out of it enough to have answered his question straight up rather than find a suitable alternative to what she'd been thinking. _Oh boy._

Teal'c frowned. That was not at all what he'd been expecting. He thought for a moment, then asked, "Is that not something done with infants and puppies?"

Sam nodded, trying desperately not to laugh. The Colonel would be so sorry he was missing this conversation. Sam was quite thankful he _was_. She sleepily tried to come up with a way out. "Yes, Teal'c. I was just thinking of the antics of Cassie's puppy."

"I do not believe he is still considered a puppy."

"No, he isn't."

Teal'c waited for a moment for more details. He got none. Major Carter seemed to be drifting off to sleep again. He nodded. Probably for the best. She needed to get as much rest as possible and allow the medications to work in her system. He suddenly wondered if he had made any strange remarks while he had been out of it earlier. So long as he hadn't said anything about that incident with Bra'tac some ten years ago...

"Don't worry Teal'c..." Sam patted his hand weakly, barely awake.

He glanced down at her.

"That thing you said about getting a fleet of Apophis' lost on the far side of the galaxy because you didn't listen closely to Bra'tac's directions...I'll never tell the Colonel..."

Her eyes closed and she slumped against him, soundly asleep.

Teal'c cursed his weakness.

* * *

><p>Jack woke up slowly. It took him a moment or two to gather his thoughts and remember where he was. He found himself pleasantly surprised to realize that he actually felt pretty good overall. He felt like he'd actually gotten some good rest for the first time in days. His leg was sore, but not nearly as bad. Testing his left hand, he found it still disturbingly numb. No pain. That was either a very good thing, or a very bad sign. Ah well. No use borrowing trouble. For now, he was just going to be content with feeling even a bit better. He didn't feel as achy as he had been feeling. Taking one more moment to enjoy the feelings of peace and comfort, Jack finally forced his eyes open. A quick glance around showed him that it was still dark of night...or early morning. There was a dim light in the room, though, from the little space heater. He turned his head a bit farther and frowned when he saw Daniel sitting across the little room, perched on top of a crate with a book in his hands. He had his feet up on the box they had found the crystals in and didn't look in the slightest comfortable.<p>

"Daniel, what are you doing sitting there?" Jack asked abruptly.

Daniel looked up, slightly startled, then smiled, "Good morning, Jack! How are you feeling?"

"Fine. I resubmit my question."

Daniel pointed down. Jack lifted his head slightly and was surprised to see the floor was covered

in at least two inches of water. "We're sinking." Daniel smiled. "It wasn't really comfortable to be sitting on the floor anymore."

"I guess not." Jack nodded, pushing himself upright. He slid his back up against the wall and kept his legs on the pallet. He rubbed his eyes, then checked his watch. 0400. He glanced back at Daniel. "Shall we get going?"

Daniel nodded, "I didn't want to wake you before I had to, but I'm afraid we're going to need a boat in a few more hours." He stood up and splashed across the room. "I've got everything packed except for something for you to eat and the med kit." He sat down on the pallet. "How's your hand feel?"

"Numb." Jack admitted, letting Daniel check the dressing.

"The dressing is clean. I think we'll leave it alone. We're getting low on supplies." He quickly checked Jack's leg and found that dressing to also be clean, dry and intact. "Good. Here's some Tylenol, your antibiotic and a granola bar. I'm going to take a peek outside."

Jack nodded and quickly downed the meds. He pulled on his boots which Daniel had thoughtfully left up on a low shelf out of the flood. He was sitting on the edge of the cot, pulling on his dry jacket by the time Daniel came back in. "So?"

"So, it's still a monsoon out there."

"Quiet?"

"No sign of anything."

"Is it getting worse?" Jack asked, looking beyond Daniel to the darkness outside.

Daniel shrugged, "I can't tell." He reached for his pack and tried to clip it on. He was less than successful as his range of motion with his right arm was quite limited.

"Here." Jack spoke up, "I'll be your right hand, and you can be my left hand." He waved his numb hand. Daniel smiled slightly and let Jack clip the pack on. "Heard anything from Teal'c or Carter?"

"Yes. Teal'c checked in about thirty minutes ago. He said Sam was doing worse again. High fever. She was asleep when we spoke."

"How did he sound?"

"Ok. He said he was doing a lot better."

"How's their houseguest?"

"Tormic was still sound asleep. Teal'c said he hadn't so much as stirred all night."

After a few minutes, they were both geared up. Jack took one last look around. "You grab the..."

"Crystals? Got 'em."

"All the..."

"Food? Yes."

"Pack the..."

"Extra zat, yes."

Jack shook his head, "That wasn't what I was going to ask."

Daniel stared at him dubiously.

"I was going to ask if you packed the..."

"Books and journals? Of course I did." Daniel said, already on his way out of the shelter.

"Would you stop that?" Jack griped, limping toward the door.

* * *

><p>"Teal'c, I'll be fine." Sam said softly. She touched his hand and smiled. She was propped up against a wall, ensconced in a cocoon of blankets. She had slept well for a while after taking the medications earlier and now was trying to convince him she would be fine on her own.<p>

"I not feel comfortable leaving you here alone." Teal'c said somberly.

"Teal'c, it's ok. I'm feeling better. I have my radio. You need to look at the Glider. Really, please go. If I need anything, I will call you." She smiled and nodded.

Teal'c hesitated, yet he knew she was correct. She did look better and she was secure in the bunker. He glanced over at Tormic who was hovering near the door with a tentative, curious smile on his face. They had not long ago spoken with Colonel O'Neill regarding their plans for the day. No one felt comfortable leaving Tormic with Sam while she was feeling so under the weather. They had agreed it would probably be best if the man went along with Teal'c. Teal'c needed to examine the Glider and finish any repairs that still needed to be completed. Daniel had explained to Tormic that Teal'c might need an extra pair of hands with the work to keep him from realizing they didn't entirely trust him. Tormic had been more than accepting of the idea. Sam gathered the man wasn't really into things medical when he turned a vivid shade of green when she'd coughed up a large amount of phlegm. He told Daniel he was basically a museum curator, not really a mechanic. But he had seemed quite eager to help Teal'c.

Teal'c finally nodded. "Very well. Do not hesitate to call for any needs, Major Carter."

"I'll call, I promise. But I think I'm just going to get some more sleep." Sam admitted honestly. She was already having trouble keeping her eyes open. Despite sitting up, she knew she was going to fall asleep again very soon. Sitting up was helping ease her breathing, making it easier to relax. Smiling, she waved Teal'c on and nodded at Tormic who timidly waved back.

Teal'c bowed his head slightly and turned to the door, his hand on the blaster, a zat tucked into his jacket. Tormic had been briefed by Daniel on the dangers outside the door and he was goggle-eyed and hovering close to Teal'c as the bunker door slid open. Sam watched them go, then let her head fall back against the wall as she drifted back to the comforting haven of sleep. Next time she woke up, everything would be better…she hoped.

* * *

><p>"Jack, will you just admit you aren't Superman for a minute and sit down?"<p>

Jack leveled a glare at Daniel. He _knew_ he wasn't Superman. But he wasn't about to admit it. At present, he was struggling royally to keep putting one foot in front of the other. They'd been walking for nearly four hours now and he hadn't been feeling well for the last hour or so. His leg was not appreciating being walked on and he was actually feeling a bit close to passing out. But he wasn't about to admit _that_ either. He kept walking, hearing Daniel's frustrated sigh behind him. He walked on for all of five more seconds when he stopped to lean against a convenient tree. It wasn't really admitting defeat, right? It was extenuating circumstances.

He said breathlessly to Daniel, "If you're tired, we can stop for a minute."

Daniel laughed, deciding that if Jack needed to blame him in order to actually stop for a bit, it was worth it. "Yeah, Jack. I'm tired, let's stop."

Jack nodded wearily and let himself slide to the ground right where he was. Thankfully, they were on higher ground, rocky higher ground, so at least he wasn't sitting in the mud. The terrain had been difficult, though and he had been struggling more and more as they had to scale higher and more rugged hills. They _had_ to be getting close to that castle by now. Again, his stomach clenched at the idea that he was putting all his hope in this castle. What did he really think he was going to find there anyway? Most likely they were going to find an angry Goa'uld. Super. He rubbed his eyes and tried to maintain a positive outlook. Maybe the castle had a whole lot of friendly natives who had long ago killed off the Goa'uld and were excited for company. _In your dreams._

Daniel was just grateful that Jack was sitting down. He'd been afraid that the hike would be too hard on him and he'd been right. Jack had been struggling on without saying anything, but it had been clear he was struggling as the terrain grew steeper. Daniel settled down on a rock next to Jack and tried to pretend he felt better for it. His shoulder was killing him and he was realizing how many other parts of him were also aching. Rubbing his forehead, he could feel a headache already starting to develop.

"Next time we go on vacation, I want to go somewhere that gets no rain." Jack muttered softly. His sarcasm was tempered with the fatigue and pain in his voice and on his face.

Daniel smiled slightly. "The dry valley in Antarctica gets the least amount of rain in the world. But I think you took that off the vacation destination possibilities a long time ago."

Jack nodded, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the tree.

Daniel watched in concern. Jack did not look good at all. He was doing better...but he needed a few days in a warm comfortable bed with some antibiotics. Since that wasn't too likely to happen in the near future, Daniel knew they would have to push on no matter what. They couldn't stay where they were. He glanced around at the dismal landscape. There wasn't much to see. Trees, rocks, and rain. The usual. Squinting into the darkness, Daniel saw something in the near distance that attracted his attention.

"Jack, I'm going to check something out. I'll be right back."

Jack grunted his assent, but didn't otherwise answer.

Daniel stood up and headed toward a little clearing. They had been walking along a rocky shelf on the side of a cliff for some time now. To the right, trees were growing up from down the cliff-side, obliterating the sight line of the valley beyond. About ten yards from where he'd been sitting, Daniel saw a break in the trees. In that break, he could see what looked like a very ordinary directional sign. He glanced back at Jack who hadn't moved, then around the area. Everything seemed very quiet. He turned back and approached the sign.

Well worn and falling apart, the sign nonetheless was clear enough for him to make out the writing on the placard. The sign was written in two languages. The Kamyen Obyet version of Russian, and Goa'uld. Translating in his head, Daniel looked beyond the sign and felt a sudden combination of relief and dread. He could now see what they had thought was a castle. Except it wasn't a castle. Well, there _was_ a castle, but it was more than that. It was a city. There was a fairly wide path cut down the side of the mountain leading to the outskirts of the city. The nearest structure, probably a guard's outpost was approximately a mile away. The wall of the city was another mile or so beyond the outpost. That they were close to their destination should have been encouraging, and would have been if it hadn't been for what he could see on the horizon…

* * *

><p>Teal'c was finding Tormic to be a rather pleasant and helpful companion. It had taken a while for them to develop a rhythm and bridge the language barrier, but now they were working together quite smoothly. It helped immensely that Tormic had a rudimentary understanding of Goa'uld. During one of their radio check-ins, Teal'c had allowed Tormic to converse with Daniel Jackson for a few minutes. It was at that point that the fact that Teal'c spoke Goa'uld came up and Tormic revealed he understood some basic vocabulary. Since that time, they had been able to communicate minimally. Tormic's understanding was extremely basic, Teal'c found, but using simple charades and simple words, they were able to get along quite well. Tormic had a friendly personality and was eager to do whatever he could to help. He still seemed skittish and uneasy, clearly demonstrating his nerves with frequent fearful glances around the room and slight jumps whenever there was an unusual noise. Having your people throw you through the "Door to Death" to a frightening and very dark world would do that to you, Teal'c recognized.<p>

Teal'c paused as he heard the whistling of the wind. The doors rattled slightly and Tormic, predictably, jumped then glanced at Teal'c with a sheepish smile. Teal'c gave him an understanding smile in return. The wind was picking up. He was certain. Over the past hour or so, it had increased in intensity and so had the rain. Unfortunately, so had the flooding. As they had left the bunker two hours earlier, they had walked out into a muddy river. The water outside the bunker was up to their ankles and covered the entire area. Thankfully, both the bunker and this workshop were several steps up from the ground so neither place was flooded. Yet. The way the rain was coming down, Teal'c somehow doubted it would be long before they would be in serious trouble.

He had to get the Glider airborne.

Of course, that brought with it its own problems. Namely the fact that it only had two seats. If Tormic had also done the math, he gave no impression of having done so. The best solution Teal'c could come up with was to leave Tormic on the roof of the tallest building and return for him after dropping Major Carter off with the others. That was of no consequence yet, however. They still had more to do before the Glider would be able to go very far. He felt bad for Major Carter who had spent so much time working on the Glider while feeling so ill. Clearly, she had not been at her best because he had been forced to redo several things she had done. Of course, as she had said, she'd never really done that much maintenance on a Glider. He had more experience than she, but he was still struggling. The fact that he felt a frustrating weakness and a pounding headache did not help his situation. He had hoped to have it done before he needed to spell himself for Kel'no'reem. Looking back at the crystal array which blurred before his eyes, Teal'c realized he was going to have to take a break whether he liked it or not.

Communicating his needs to Tormic was somewhat challenging, but the man seemed to get the general idea. Teal'c indicated that Tormic should keep watch by the windows and awaken him if anything happened. Teal'c wasn't completely comfortable with leaving Tormic alone with the Glider while he meditated, but he had few options. He was going to have to trust that Tormic was no danger. And he was going to have to rely on his keen senses to tell him if Tormic _was_ a danger.

* * *

><p>Jack had forced his eyes opened when Daniel had wandered off. He felt total confidence in Daniel's abilities, but never liked for any of his team to not have someone watching their back. Jack rubbed his left hand and willed the feeling to come back. He needed to be ready for anything and having a hand that didn't work and a painful leg would not help when they came across trouble. Not that he was a pessimist, but he'd had enough experience to know to prepare for trouble at all times. As he sat trying to think of ways to prepare for whatever trouble would come their way next, Jack realized the rain had stopped. Abruptly. He glanced up at the sky with a mystified expression. Weird. Not that he wasn't grateful for the reprieve from that never-ending rain, but it seemed extremely odd. Before he could puzzle any more about the rain, he looked over to see Daniel spin around and head back in a big hurry.<p>

_Ah, yes_. Trouble. Jack was already on his feet by the time Daniel met him. There was that look of tension on Daniel's face that always spelled trouble. "Are we in a hurry?" Jack asked, already knowing the answer.

"Hurrying would be a wonderful idea." Daniel agreed, actually reaching out and pulling Jack's left arm over his shoulder.

Jack had been muddling along on his sore leg just fine, thank you very much. He wasn't the type to lean on anybody and Daniel knew that. So the fact that Daniel was now literally pulling him along made his own concern ratchet up a few dozen notches. They were almost to the sign and Jack asked, "What's the sign say? Run for your lives?"

"No, it basically welcomes the traveler to T'zabt, kingdom of Dougrae, liberator of the Kamyen Obyet."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"So why are you dragging me down a mountain side?" Jack asked slightly breathlessly. Incredible how out of shape you could get after just a few days being ill.

"That's why." Daniel pointed.

Jack followed his gaze out across the clearing of the valley. First all he saw was the castle, city actually. That was an amazing sight to behold in and of itself. But it had nothing at all on what he saw beyond the city…Now he knew why they were practically running down the side of the mountain.

"Crap."

* * *

><p>"Teal'c! Teal'c!"<p>

An anxious and somewhat unfamiliar voice was breaking through the peaceful quiet of Kel'no'reem. Teal'c hardly felt better than earlier, so he knew there must not have been much passage of time since he had started meditating and the present. He opened his eyes and found himself faced with an extremely concerned looking Tormic who was practically bouncing in front of him.

"Tormic, what has transpired?" Teal'c asked, realizing that the only thing Tormic would have gotten out of that would have been his own name. He rose to his feet as he watched Tormic run across the room, pointing frantically at the door. Teal'c hurried to the door. He was aware of a change in the weather as he rushed across the room.

The rain had stopped.

Tormic pulled aside the door and Teal'c felt his breath catch in his throat. The sight outside the door was more ominous and foreboding than he had ever imagined. The rain may have stopped, but the weather had not at all improved. The sky had darkened considerably and far off in the distance, Teal'c could see vicious streaks of lightning splitting the blackness. The lightning was in excess of anything Teal'c had ever seen before in his life. The incongruous stillness from the lack of rain was in direct contrast to the coming onslaught. The billowing black clouds were rolling across the sky with incredible speed. Teal'c could feel the ground actually beginning to shake as the distant thunder rolled. They had little time.

He turned to look at the Glider. Their hopes and efforts had been poured into getting the Glider airborne again. Now, it looked that their efforts were going to be in vain. There was no way he could protect the craft from the storm. Looking around the workshop, Teal'c regretted that the building was of such a flimsy nature. Tormic's expression of terror deepened and he shouted something in his native tongue. Teal'c looked back outside and with a sense of resignation, slammed the door and bolted it. The flashflood that was barreling their way was going to obliterate the building no matter what he did. There was nowhere to run and nothing he could do…

* * *

><p>Jack bit back a shout of pain as they jumped across a narrow brook and he landed heavily on his sore leg. He was breathless but there was no point in complaining. They were literally running for their lives. The stillness of the world around them was eerie, but the coming storm they could see rolling toward them was downright frightening. Daniel had been right in deciding they needed to get to the city as fast as was humanly possible. Exposed on the side of the mountain, they wouldn't stand a chance against the weather. Apparently every form of wildlife also recognized the danger because they were encountering many different species as they ran. Even a few <em>Sha<em> beasts were running away from the storm. Thankfully, the monsters had survival on the mind and didn't even stop to look at him and Daniel. When he had first seen the huge city, Jack had been rather pleased. It looked huge and perhaps would offer them some options to get them home. But then he had seen what had Daniel so concerned.

This was a storm the likes of which he had never imagined possible. Clearly whatever Dougrae had done to manipulate the weather had created some major weather anomalies. Anomalies that were of a more dangerous than typical nature. The blackness of the sky beyond the city was disturbing enough without the never-ending streaks of lightning that were splitting the sky. Jack had never seen so much lighting in his life. The rumbles of thunder in the distance were growing closer. The ground was actually shaking making them more unsteady as they ran.

Stumbling, Jack gasped in a deep breath and looked back at the dark sky. There was a wall of clouds rolling across the mountains and the sky was actually turning a frightening shade of green ahead of the clouds. With those clouds was already the clear evidence of heavy hail pounding across the mountains. The hail appeared strong enough to be taking down trees. Even as they ran, Jack couldn't help but watch in fascination as trees snapped in half in the distance. That did not bode well for them at all. They really, _really_ needed to get to cover. Already they had passed the guard outpost. A cursory look at the outpost had revealed that it had seen better days. The entire backside of it had been destroyed. Whether from a storm or from something else, it offered no safety so they continued past it in hopes that they could find safety beyond the wall of the city. They were pretty close to the wall now and Jack was thrilled to see that a large chunk of the wall was crumbled away. That would allow them to get into the city without having to scale the wall. Which was a good thing considering the shape he was in right now.

They were about twenty yards from the wall when the first of the clouds reached them and the rain began falling. The wind had been picking up as they had been hurrying, but now the wind hit them hard enough to almost knock them off their feet. This was not good.

"Come on!" Daniel exclaimed, frantically pulling Jack over the rubble.

As much as he hated being dragged along like a piece of baggage, Jack was grateful Daniel was there to drag him as he wasn't sure he would have been able to make it otherwise. Once over the wall, Daniel dragged him to the first building. Jack leaned heavily against it, trying his hardest to catch his breath. Daniel left him there and rushed toward the door. He found to his great frustration that it wouldn't budge. Not wasting any time, he fired a few rounds into it, but still the door refused to open.

Desperately, Daniel looked around. The rain was pouring again and hail was also beginning to fall now. And the hail was not small. He'd already been hit by a few hefty balls of hail and it _hurt_. They had to find a way inside a building soon. He looked back at Jack and found him looking beyond him with an expression on his face that Daniel didn't like at all. He looked scared.

"Daniel, we have to find a way in _now_!" Jack shouted pointing beyond Daniel, then turned around to his left and headed for the next nearest building as quickly as he could.

Daniel turned and looked where Jack had been pointing and his heart thudded even harder in his chest. The black sky was now spawning tornados. Many of them. Daniel didn't waste time trying to count them, he just took off running for the next building. He yanked at the door to no avail. Kicking and firing at the door knob did no good either. The doors on these buildings all were of a heavy metal that apparently wasn't going to open without a key or some heavier machinery. There wasn't time. He rushed around the building and started wrenching on yet another door when he heard static over his radio.

"Daniel get…now…second story building…"

Daniel did an about face and hit his radio, "Jack, where are you?"

"Get over here now."

"Where?"

"The big…with two stories…Got the door open…"

"I'm coming." Daniel took off at a run in the direction Jack had been going when last he'd seen him.

* * *

><p>Jack practically fell down the stairs. The door he had managed to open had opened immediately to a staircase and the wind had blown him half way down it. He finished running down the stairs and flicked on his flashlight. He was relieved to see nothing immediately threatening in the near vicinity and he hit his radio again, "Daniel, I've found a safe place. Where are you?"<p>

He got nothing but static coming through his radio. Jack finished analyzing the room and found a doorway under the staircase that led to a little room that looked extremely secure. Jack turned back to the staircase and started to climb back up it only to be thrown backwards onto his butt. It felt like a wind tunnel where he was standing and the amount of hail that was being hurtled into the room was incredible. After getting hit multiple times and losing every attempt to get to his feet, Jack gave up and turned away, crawling back to the little room under the staircase.

"Daniel!" He shouted into his radio, still hearing nothing but static in return. He was about to try to fight his way up the stairs again when he heard a sound like nothing he'd ever heard before. He'd been told that tornados sounded like freight trains but what he heard right now sounded like ten freight trains. He felt the entire building shake as he backed into the little room under the stairs and the sound grew almost unbearable. Jack actually had to put his hands over his ears as the sound exploded all around him.

* * *

><p>Daniel felt the wind pushing him from behind and the hail striking him from all sides. He heard static on his radio but couldn't make out anything that Jack was saying. He just knew that he had to get to wherever Jack was right away and hope that it was as safe as Jack seemed to think it was. He rounded the last building before he was able to see the only two-story building in sight. The door was open, so that had to be where Jack was. He ran as fast as he could despite the sharp stitch in his left side. He had just made it to the threshold of the building when the wind shrieked horrifically and the entire world exploded. Daniel felt himself blown off his feet by a gust of wind that felt like a truck. That truck threw him across the room and everything went instantly black…<p> 


	19. Chapter 19

Considering the last thing she'd heard from Teal'c had been a garbled transmission that sounded like "…storm…stay where…are….don't….we'll try to….bunker…." Sam felt like she was doing a pretty good job of _not _freaking out. She was currently chewing her nails, staring at a frustratingly silent radio. No one was responding to her which only added to her concern. Even so, she was rationalizing that just because Daniel and the Colonel weren't replying to her didn't necessarily mean they were in trouble. They might just be busy…or distracted…or something. _Nibble nibble. _Sam yanked her hand away from her mouth. Her nails were destroyed and she needed to stop before she ended up chewing through a finger.

Despite the thick walls of the bunker, she could hear the howling of the wind outside. Clearly things had gotten worse. Why hadn't Teal'c come immediately back to the bunker when the conditions changed? The workshop where the Glider was located had seemed fairly rickety. Not a good place to be in the face of a bad storm. So that meant most likely that Teal'c and Tormic had been unable to return to the bunker. That wasn't a nice thought. A tremendous crack of thunder caused her to jump in spite of herself. If the storm was this loud inside the bunker, Sam shuddered to think about how bad the conditions were outside. She had initially been tempted to go look for Teal'c, but his words coupled with her own weakened condition had made her realize how futile that attempt would be. She wouldn't have made it very far and what good would she be to Teal'c anyway? If anyone had a chance to survive against such a storm, it would be the Jaffa.

But the waiting was driving her crazy. She really needed somebody to answer their radio…

* * *

><p>Jack had serious doubts about his choice of a safe hiding place from the storm. The freight trains that had hit the building had done so with a frightening ferocity. Never in his life had he experienced a storm like this. He tucked himself in the far corner of the little room under the stairs and kept his hands over his ears. The sound was deafening. The sound and the earthshaking intensity of the storm would have been terrifying enough had he known that Daniel was safe. Not knowing where his friend was made it all the worse. He hadn't heard any confirmation that Daniel had even heard him say where he was. The radio had been so full of static that he had only been hoping that his message was going through. Now, he was just praying that Daniel had found some place safe to shelter. There was no way they would have survived if they had been exposed on the side of the mountain.<p>

The entire building shook as another battering ram of wind hit. He had often thought that being a tornado chaser could have been an interesting occupation. Now, feeling the ground shake and listening to the howling winds, Jack figured he'd now had more than enough experience with the killer storms. Of course, he had the distinct feeling that the storm he was now sitting through would be classified as many times worse than anything Earth had ever seen. Why did people always have to mess around with things they shouldn't mess around with?

Even as he cursed Dougrae's experiment, Jack's thoughts wandered to Teal'c and Carter. How were they faring? From the speed the storm had been moving, he figured they were going to be affected. Of course, with the crazy weather patterns on this planet, they might have been affected even earlier. Who knew where or how the patterns formed? If Sam was still in the bunker, he figured she'd be safe. But Teal'c and Tormic had been out working on the Glider and from what he'd seen of the workshop…it hadn't seemed exactly secure. So the question was whether or not they made it back to the bunker before the storm started.

Just when he thought it couldn't possibly get any worse, or louder, it did. The noise was almost painful and, despite the blackness, he saw his life flash before his eyes as the entire building seemed to come crashing down all around him….

* * *

><p>Teal'c had been prepared to die. From the beyond terrified expression that had appeared on Tormic's sheet white face, he had also stared death in the face. Now, they were far less terrified and a lot more mystified and curious. That raging wall of water that had been barreling toward them thirty minutes ago had not ripped into the warehouse and crushed them to death. No, the flash flood had abruptly been stopped by what Teal'c could only surmise had been an amazingly well designed automatic defense system. A split second before the flood would have hit the door, as he'd been expecting, a barrier had gone up protecting the workshop. It wasn't a Goa'uld shield, but it was effectively holding back the waters. Now Teal'c's only concern was how long the shield would last. Nothing around this area had a very "shiny new" feel to it. The fact that the building had been equipped with such a defense made him think that storms like these were not unexpected.<p>

What kind of life had the refugees from Kamyen Obyet had on this dark world? He glanced across the room at Tormic who was hunched over in a corner shaking his head. He looked like a man who had absolutely no idea what to do with himself. Teal'c couldn't blame him. Teal'c wished he had some way to help the man. After the shield had gone up, Teal'c had surveyed the room carefully again, looking for controls or some way of knowing how the shield worked. Nothing. At least nothing he had found. Tormic had taken far longer to recover from his initial shock; and he still wasn't totally recovered. Teal'c was feeling more confident that the shield would hold…at least for a while. Now his most pressing concern was over his teammates. Major Carter would be fine, he hoped, if she stayed put. He felt the bunker stood a good chance of surviving the storm. He was just worried she might not have heard his message and that she would become concerned and open the door when they didn't return. That would be a disaster. Repeated attempts at using the radio had proved fruitless and he assumed there would be no chance of them working until after the storm.

Which left him with nothing to do but get back to work on the Glider…..

* * *

><p>Blackness. Dark, oppressive blackness. Jack rubbed his eyes gingerly and found it made no difference. Blackness still. He coughed a few times as he pushed himself into a half-sitting position. The air was thick with dust and debris. He winced as he moved his left leg, which was throbbing rather painfully. His cramped position had not been exactly comfortable…even before the roof fell in on him. Ok so the roof hadn't really fallen in on him. It had mostly collapsed all around him cocooning him in a very tight area of timber, masonry and stone. After the walls had come tumbling down, he barely dared to hope he was going to make it out of this one alive. The storm had continued without wavering and he'd been forced to lie there, barely able to breathe through the dust and listen to the wailing winds. Now, for the first time, those monstrous winds had abated slightly. Jack could hear himself think. That was a good first step. It took him several minutes of just lying there trying to catch his breath and assess the damage. Bruised and very stiff, but thankfully nothing heavy had landed directly on him. The next question was how much room did he have to maneuver?<p>

Finding his flashlight, he flicked it on and surveyed his surroundings. He was on his right side with his back up against the wall that had been farthest from the staircase. His light revealed a new wall directly ten inches from his face. _Huh._ So that had been close. Shining his light around revealed that the little room had shrunk considerably. He could see the green-black sky from a far corner and realized the building up top had been ripped apart even to the foundation, at least in some places. Lighting split the sky, but at a reduced rate now. Checking his watch instinctively, Jack was shocked to find that almost two hours had passed since he'd taken shelter from the storm. Unbelievable. He looked up and found that there was at least room for him to sit up.

Pushing himself to a sitting position, Jack scrubbed at his face and coughed some more. The dust was starting to clear, but there was still a haze. His flashlight revealed that the rubble was tossed helter-skelter, some of it reaching up to what was left of the ceiling, some of it not quite that high. So there was a chance he could find a way out. The little area where he could see sky was too small to hope to get through, but if he could move some of the debris, he might be able to crawl back out to where the staircase was…or had been. He thumbed his radio before he moved any further. "Daniel, do you read?"

He got no reply. A few repeated tries and he still came up empty. Which meant that either Teal'c and Carter were in trouble too…or the storm was messing with the reception. Given the nature of the storm, he had a feeling that was most likely. Pushing to his feet, Jack swung his light in a wide arc, surveying the ruins of the building. The portion that had collapsed lay in jagged pieces all around him. He determinedly began pulling at the debris in front of him. If the storm had stilled for even a short time, he needed to press his advantage and get to a safer location…preferably after finding Daniel.

"Daniel, do you read?" Jack tried the radio one more time.

No answer.

* * *

><p>Sam woke up suddenly to a chilly room. Shaking her head, she couldn't believe she had fallen asleep. Shivering, she pulled the blankets closer to her and blinked slowly. The fire had died down quite a bit and she really wished she didn't have to get up and get it roaring again. A glance at her watch showed that it had been almost an hour since she'd last looked. She tried the radio again…still with only frustrating silence. She realized the noise of the storm outside had diminished somewhat. At least it had diminished to the point that she couldn't hear it from inside the bunker. Forcing herself to get to her feet, she was happy to find she wasn't as unsteady as she'd feared. So the nap had done her some good after all. She made her way to the fireplace and tossed in what was left of the "firewood." She looked around the room realizing that they'd burned up almost every piece of furniture…and that was in addition to the firewood the Colonel had stocked up on before he and Daniel had left. Not good.<p>

She turned back to the room. Ok. So she was going to be out of fuel soon. How long did she give Teal'c before she went out looking for him? She'd give him a few more hours to make contact. Otherwise, she was packing up and going to look for them.

* * *

><p>Teal'c smiled widely. It felt good to smile…and it felt even better to see a perfectly running Death Glider in front of him. Tormic was also smiling and looked far more relaxed than he had since that day back on Kamyen Obyet when they had first met. Oh how long ago that now seemed! Teal'c nodded at the man and looked back at the Glider. Not too bad. Once Tormic had stumbled upon the spare crystals in a little cupboard, the repair process had not been nearly as complicated. He walked over to the window and looked outside. The storm seemed to have abated somewhat. The sky was still an eerie green-black and the rain and lightening continued, but at a lessened rate. The floodwaters still flowed tumultuously beyond the shield. The water would have been about up to his shoulders, but the rate it was flowing coupled with the debris being carried swiftly along with it would make it extremely dangerous to traverse. He would give it a little more time. But he did not want to leave Major Carter alone for any longer than he had to. If they could not make contact with her soon, he knew she would be determined to find them.<p>

* * *

><p>Hampered by the treacherous, debris strewn and unstable ground, it was taking far longer than he would have liked to dig his way out. Hating himself for checking his watch again, Jack did so. An hour. He'd been trying to make it out of the little room for an hour. Leaning his head against his arm for a moment, he sucked in a deep breath, then wiped the sweat from his face. There wasn't time for this nonsense. He didn't know how long the reprieve from the storm would last…and he really needed to find Daniel. He had started alternating between calling over the radio and shouting at the top of his lungs. Either way, all he got back was silence punctuated by the distant roar of thunder and the ever present thrum of the falling rain. Apprehension growing with every step and each minute of continued silence, Jack found himself cursing their luck and the unreasonable people of Kamyen Obyet who had sent them to this flooded planet in the first place.<p>

He was about to start digging again when he heard a very soft and distant moan. Instantly on alert, he began surveying the area systematically with his flashlight while shouting, "Daniel! Can you hear me?"

He couldn't see anything resembling desert camo in the mess in front of him, nor did he hear anything else. He called out again, "Daniel, it's Jack. Do you hear me?"

He held his breath and waited. And waited. Another full minute passed before he heard a very soft voice, "Jack?"

_Thank God!_ He breathed, and then shouted, "Are you ok?"

"Jack?"

"Yeah, it's me." He wanted to keep digging, but he could barely hear Daniel's voice as it was, "You ok?"

The response took another full minute to come. "I'm cold."

"Where are you?" Jack continued, frantically shining his flashlight around even as he spoke. He wasn't at all liking the excruciatingly long pauses in the conversation. "Daniel, can you turn on your flashlight?"

He waited, and then called out more loudly, "Daniel!"

"What?"

Jack almost smiled at the irritated question. Would've smiled if the irritated voice had sounded just a bit stronger and less confused. "Daniel, can you turn on your flashlight? I can't see you."

"Can't find it."

"Can you see anything, can you see my light?" Jack shone it around again, "Daniel?"

"I don't see it."

"Can you move around any?"

This pause was even longer and Jack was about to shout again when he heard a pained groan. "Everything hurts."

Forcing himself to be calm, Jack said, "Take it easy, Daniel. I'm going to start moving again. Just look for my flashlight and holler if you see it, ok?"

"Yeah."

"Ok."

Jack wasted no time in pulling down some more debris and scrambling over yet another pile. He shone his light around, frustrated to see more rock and some tree branches in his way. Yanking a branch aside, he felt a twinge of relief that he could see the edge of the staircase…or what was left of it anyway. So he was almost to the main room. Pausing to shine his light around slowly, he asked, "Daniel, you still with me?"

"Can't really go anywhere, Jack." Daniel's voice was shaky.

"Did you make it in the building?"

"What building?"

Jack froze, "Where are you?"

"I don't know."

That didn't sound good. Jack pulled away more rocks and then paused again as he heard movement and a pained gasp. "Are you ok?"

"Not really." Another groan of pain.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to sit up."

"Stay put. Can you see anything from where you are now?"

"Just dark."

"Ok, just keep looking for my light." Jack started to move again. He was alarmed at how badly Daniel's teeth were chattering. He himself was on the cool side, but nowhere near cold enough to be shivering so hard that his teeth would chatter. _Not good, so not good_. He refused to focus on the problems and concentrated instead on the fact that Daniel was alive and talking to him. Jack slid down a pile of rocks and almost missed the soft voice. He paused and called, "Daniel?"

"I saw light."

"Good. Do you see it now?"

"No."

"Crap. Ok, I'll go around the room again." He slowly moved the light around and stopped halfway when he heard the sound of gut-wrenching vomiting.

He still couldn't see anything, but he knew he was headed in the right direction. After a frustrating ten more minutes of having to push away heavy rocks and timber, ten minutes when he could elicit no response from Daniel, Jack finally glimpsed an arm in a familiar desert camo jacket. Jack moved as fast as he could across the debris strewn floor. There was actually some light out here in the main room, filtering down from the top of the staircase. The entire section of building up top had been torn away. Jack registered that some of the staircase was still in place as he crawled over another pile of timber. Finally, he could see Daniel. He was sitting up against the far wall, shaking and leaning heavily on his left arm. He had his right arm tucked up to his chest.

While Jack was extremely glad to see him…and to see him sitting up, he forced himself to tamp down on the panic in his chest and remind himself that head injuries always bled a lot and that they often looked worse than they actually were. Even so, his breath caught in his throat when he finally was able to kneel next to his friend and get a good look. The entire right side of Daniel's face was covered in blood; some of it still freshly running down his face. An extremely quick survey of the area revealed a disturbing pool of blood where Jack assumed he had landed and been lying. Mentally running back the situation, Jack gathered that he'd made it to the doorway, the wind had thrown him clear across the room and he'd hit the opposite wall before falling to the ground. Add to that trauma the fact that as far as he could tell, he'd most likely been unconscious for nearly three hours and Jack didn't like the results at all. The collapsed sections of the building had sheltered him from the main onslaught of the storm that had come through the opened area above, but the air was extremely colder out here compared to where Jack had been.

"Crap." Jack whispered, grasping Daniel's shoulder. He didn't look like he was going to be sitting up much longer. His eyes were barely open and he was ghost white beneath the blood. He'd lost a lot of blood judging from the amount on the floor, on his face and jacket. The blood loss, head injury and exposure to the weather was such a nice, perfect way to develop hypothermia and shock, Jack thought unhappily. He reached around and unfastened Daniel's pack and said, "Daniel, you need to lie back down."

At his voice, Daniel forced his eyes open a bit wider and looked up at him. "Jack?"

"Yeah. Come on; lie down."

"Just sat up."

"Clearly that went well." Jack quipped, knowing Daniel had just puked up his guts. "Down."

Good thing he had been prepared, because Daniel lost his wavering control and collapsed to the left. Jack eased him down to the cold ground and immediately unclipped his own pack, then pulled off his vest and jacket and threw them over his friend. Ripping into the pack, he yanked out what little remained of his medical supplies. Using his flashlight, he found the main gash that was still bleeding slightly and pressed a clean gauze pad to it. He did a rapid assessment and found to his concern that Daniel's ears had also been bleeding. His jaw tightened and he looked back to see Daniel staring up at him with unfocused eyes.

"Hey, how are you doing?" He didn't get a reply, but at least Daniel was still looking at him. He tried again, "Can you tell me your name?"

"You forgot?"

"Humor me."

"Daniel Jackson."

"Good. What year is it?"

It took a little longer, but he finally whispered the correct year, then his eyes slid shut.

"No you don't." Jack said, tapping his ice cold cheek. "Stay with me here."

Daniel looked at him again, then frowned, "What happened?"

"What do you remember?"

"Dark."

"Well, it is that." Jack agreed, pulling away the gauze and trying to get a better look at the wound. He shook his head. It was a significant gash…that was for sure. The bleeding had slowed, but stitches were needed. He was becoming a regular Hawkeye Pierce. He'd have to talk to Janet about getting an honorary MD for all the stitching up he had been doing on this trip. "Daniel, I'm going to have to stitch this up or you're gonna bleed to death."

Daniel didn't look like he particularly cared one way or the other at the moment and his eyes slid closed again.

"Stay awake." Jack ordered. He shook his shoulder, then instantly regretted it when Daniel jerked away with a pained groan. _Should have shook his _left_ shoulder, _Jack cursed himself for forgetting. Next step on his agenda was figuring out what other injuries Daniel might have sustained. He apologized, "Sorry, Daniel, I forgot."

"I'm awake now; what do you want?"

If Daniel sounded a bit ticked off, Jack couldn't blame him. "Just stay with me; you hit your head pretty hard."

"I'm aware of that."

"Good." Jack nodded, doing his best to clean the blood away from the gash. Daniel was sounding more with it…if he could keep him talking… "So, you really need to stop running into walls."

"What?"

"I mean…back when we first went to Chulak, Apophis threw you into a wall and now here you go again."

"I did not _run_ into a wall either time." Daniel muttered, shifting slightly and grunting in pain. Oh so many places hurt and his head was absolutely splitting. Why did Jack think it was a good time to crack jokes? He was freezing and the ground was both chilly and hard. On top of the pain and cold, he was frighteningly confused. He couldn't figure out what had happened. He tried to focus on whatever Jack was saying. He could tell by the tight expression on his face that Jack was extremely worried.

"…so we're going to have to relocate." Jack was saying, as he worked. "I don't know if the storm is over or not, but we're not safe here."

Daniel had a very limited perspective of the world from where he was lying, but he could see that they were in a tight area full of debris. He agreed with Jack's assessment. Not a safe place, nor was it comfortable. He didn't know where _here_ was, but he sure hoped Jack had a good plan for getting them somewhere else.

"Sorry." Jack's word interrupted his murky thoughts. "Almost done."

He honestly wasn't even feeling whatever it was Jack was doing…stitches had he said? He was feeling so much pain at present that that was so low on the scale it didn't even register. "Where are we going?"

Jack concentrated on what he was doing for a moment, then sat back, apparently finished, "Hopefully deeper into the castle."

_Castle?_

"We only made it to this outbuilding, but if that storm continues, we're going to be in trouble. I'm thinking, or hoping, that we're in the eye of the storm, but I have no way of knowing for sure." Jack efficiently repacked the supplies, taking a rapid glance over the rocks at the sky. Nothing had really changed, except the rain had slowed. He looked back down at Daniel who was still shivering and looking barely conscious. "Daniel, what else hurts?"

"Everything."

"Ok, anything broken?"

"I don't know."

"Let's start with your arm." Jack said, carefully assessing his right arm.

"I think I landed on it." Daniel grimaced.

Jack was relieved to find that his arm was not broken, and the shoulder was surprisingly not out of place. So far so good. A rapid assessment of his left arm and legs revealed no obvious breaks or injuries. Next, he checked for broken ribs, a process that revealed some very tender areas, but no obvious breaks. Jack felt somewhat better, but not a lot. He shone his light around the room again and finished by looking at the staircase. It looked like that was going to be their best option. He looked back at Daniel.

"Hey, I'm going to find a way out of here. You stay put, but don't go to sleep, you hear me?"

"Got it." Daniel whispered.

"Ok, I'll be right back."

Jack found the path to the staircase was not much easier to traverse than the path he had taken from his little shelter. But it was _slightly_ easier, so that was something. He pushed aside some masonry and climbed over some crumpled metal. He had to climb on some debris to reach the steps. Only the top seven steps were still there. Jack dragged himself up them and took a deep breath before stepping up into the unknown…

* * *

><p>In the back of his mind, Teal'c had been expecting the shield to fail. Yes, he had. The relief he felt at having the Glider in operable order was quickly dulled by the realization that the flooding outside was getting worse…and the shield was beginning to falter. Choices, choices. Tormic's expression had returned to that look of barely controlled terror as he stared, transfixed, out the window at the violent waves beyond the flickering shield. Teal'c felt far more frustration than fear at this point. But he also knew he needed to solve this problem <em>very<em> soon or they would be dead anyway.

He stared around the room and realized he really had only one viable option. They needed to get the Glider out of the building before the shield failed. Looking up, Teal'c felt confidence that the roof would prove to be easy to destroy with the firepower the Glider possessed. So they could get out that way. Provided, of course, the shield wouldn't prevent them from leaving. That was the frustrating thing. He had no idea how to operate the shield. They had looked and looked for the controls but it had proven futile. Watching the shield flicker once more, Teal'c took action. He had no way of knowing how much longer that shield would hold…and the moment it went, they would be crushed by the onslaught. He called out to Tormic who turned and approached, vibrating with fear.

Teal'c motioned to the tools and equipment they had strewn all around them. He started packing the items into the glider. Tormic got the message and began grabbing everything he could reach and handing them up to Teal'c. Within moments, they had stored as much of the equipment as they could fit in the small space behind the rear seat.

"Get inside!" Teal'c said, and motioned Tormic into the rear seat. Tormic practically jumped into the seat and wasted no time in figuring out how to secure himself in the seat. Teal'c climbed in and mentally crossed his fingers that the repairs he and Major Carter had worked on would be adequate.

The Glider started up without a hitch and Teal'c lowered the canopy. Now was the moment of truth. He fired at the roof and it collapsed all around them. He brought the Glider up through the falling debris out into the free sky. So far so good. Even as the rain began to pelt the canopy, Teal'c realized that the shield had not been a "bubble" over the building; it had only extended like four walls around the building. The wind was buffeting them and making the Glider slightly difficult to handle, but he was not concerned at this point. If the weather held where it was right now, there would be no issue. More concerning to him right now was the issue of how to get Major Carter out of the bunker safely. There was no way he was leaving her at this point. Of course, this also brought to his attention the issue of how he was going to fit three passengers in the Glider. Teal'c pushed that thought out of his mind as he really needed to deal with actually _getting to _Major Carter first. He leveled off and brought the craft around so he could head back toward the bunker.

Teal'c sucked in a startled breath. The bunker was almost completely covered in water…

* * *

><p>Sam had settled back under her pile of blankets and decided patience was a virtue. She had a cup of tea and was prepared to wait for a few more hours before she panicked.<p>

Then the leaking started. Not a lot at first, but enough that she noticed. It was initially just trickling in from under the bunker door. That was enough to get her out of her cocoon and investigating. It was when the trickle turned to a flood of icy cold water that Sam got worried. The bunker door was huge, thick and seemed to have been designed to be impenetrable yet here it was letting in a river. Which meant that it was in worse shape than it had initially seemed. Sam could actually hear the raging water beyond the door and when the leaking started from both sides and over the top of the door, she knew there was no point in opening the door to even consider escaping that way. So instead, she rushed around the room, gathering her gear and what supplies she could grab. She shoved as much of it as would fit on top of the fireplace mantle; the rest she stacked on the edge of the fireplace itself.

Once she'd done that, the water was already about a inch deep throughout the living area. Trying her radio again, with futile results, Sam hurried into the other room. She frantically searched every inch of it again in the hopes that there was another way out. Nothing. She went back to the living area. The water was now about two inches deep. Her gaze fell on the doorway that lead back down the endless staircase. Well, the water would take a_very_ long time to fill up all the way down there, so it was at least an option. Not one that she relished very much considering they'd pretty much figured there was no way out from there….unless of course she could get back down to the control room and figure out a way to rewire the ring system to allow her to escape that way. She was about to put her money down on that idea when she heard a crackle from her silent radio. Freezing, she grabbed it.

"Teal'c? Is that you?" She held her breath for what seemed like a very long time before the radio cracked again.

"…come…get in stair…cover…we are going to….twenty seconds…"

Frowning, Sam tried to unravel that enigmatic jumble of clues. Ok what on earth had Teal'c meant? Realizing suddenly that he had given her a very short time frame, Sam turned toward the stairs, still not sure what was going on, but she opened the door and started down the stairs…at the exact moment an explosion in the main room sent her stumbling…

* * *

><p>The world he found above the ruins of the building was markedly different from the world he had seen briefly before the storm. It was a violently marred landscape; downed trees, crumbled buildings, areas of ground ripped up and shredded. He almost was knocked over by the continued wind and buffeted by flying leaves and other debris. The rain was falling steadily, but it wasn't that heavy, violent rainfall from before. The temperature had fallen and the sky remained a malevolent green with black clouds. Jack didn't take long to assess the situation. He shielded his eyes and saw that there was a huge building about forty yards behind where he now stood. The building looked like it might actually be an entrance to the main castle. It was carved right out of the face of the mountain. That seemed like a fairly safe place to hide from a killer storm, Jack thought. There was a lot of rubbish in the way, but they could make it. Judging from the angry sky and the whistling wind, Jack figured they'd better hurry.<p>

He turned and gingerly went back down the dangerous stairs. As he stumbled and hastily reached out for a handhold, he realized that his left hand was no longer as numb as it had been. Which was delightful, except that it stung rather painfully when he hit it against the wall steadying himself. His leg was still sore, but functional. Jack climbed over the obstacles and slid back to the ground next to Daniel who was still awake. Good.

"Ok, we've got a place to go." Jack said, making sure everything was stowed in his pack. He looked down at Daniel who was still shaking with the cold and said, "The new accommodations look like there's even a chance of finding a warm bed inside."

Daniel didn't reply, but started to give the indication he was thinking about moving. Jack helped drag him upright and leaned him back against the wall for a moment. The movement had clearly sent Daniel's head spinning, but he stayed where he was. Jack quickly put his jacket and vest back on and clipped the pack to his vest. He hated to put Daniel's back on, but he was going to need his hands free. Daniel seemed to realize this and slid sideways to allow Jack to clip his pack on. Jack pulled him up by his good arm while Daniel kept his right arm tight to his chest. He wasn't very steady and he was hunched over slightly, but he was at least up on his feet which was encouraging. Jack flicked his flashlight.

"This way. It's rough going."

Together they made their way across the uneven floor. They made the journey in silence; Daniel needing all his concentration just to stay upright. Jack tried to find the easiest route, but there wasn't exactly one of those available. They stumbled and struggled up the stairs finally, only to be nearly knocked off their feet by the wind. Jack slung Daniel's arm over his shoulder and pulled him toward the only place they had a hope of finding safety. Those forty yards were extremely long and difficult. Jack was finding that his weakness was catching up with him and no matter what the adrenalin was telling him he could do…he wasn't going to be able to keep going much longer. Daniel's pained gasps for air and struggles to stay upright also told him he'd better hope that big door would open…


	20. Chapter 20

Teal'c had aimed toward the far corner of the bunker, he hoped. He was trying to avoid the corner where Major Carter had been sitting earlier, and he wanted to avoid her route to the staircase. He had realized that there were little to no other options left him. The water was above the bunker door and there would be no way to force it open against the tide. Which was why he had made the decision to fire the staff cannon through the roof of the bunker. It was the only way he could think of to rescue Major Carter. He had tried the radio again to warn her of what he was planning to do with the hope that proximity would have helped amplify the reception. Even as he felt a gnawing fear that perhaps he had done the wrong thing and could possibly have just injured or killed an unsuspecting Major Carter, he looked once more at the waves. No matter what, her chances weren't good. The water was still rising rapidly and there was little chance that she would be able to get out.

So Teal'c brought the craft down on the roof of the bunker and hoped he had done the right thing. He rapidly climbed out of the cockpit and motioned for Tormic to stay put. Tormic nodded enthusiastically, glancing apprehensively over the edge of the building at the rushing waters and digging his hands into the seat cushion with a death grip. Teal'c reached for some rope and hurried across the slippery roof toward the hole he'd just blown in the roof. The fireplace was still burning brightly and the room was mostly illuminated. The falling rain was helping to dissipate the smoke and he could see that the floor was already several inches deep in water. A quick glance showed the water was flooding from all around the door. He couldn't see Major Carter anywhere.

"Major Carter!" He shouted repeatedly, feeling his concern grow with each silent second. Finally, he saw the door to the staircase move slightly and a very pale face peer around the room. He smiled with relief, "Major Carter!"

"Teal'c!" She exclaimed, a smile lighting her face as well. She glanced around the room, then up at him. "Good timing. I was thinking I was going to be swimming very soon."

"Indeed. We came as quickly as we could. I will secure the rope and assist you out."

"Ok, I'll gather up what we need." Sam nodded, already hurrying across the room.

Teal'c nodded and turned to quickly fasten the rope to a section of the Glider. Tossing the end down to Major Carter, he watched as she bundled what was left of their supplies and some of the tools and devices they had found in the bunker into her pack. She looked up at him and he pulled up the supplies, setting them aside and tossing the rope back down. Fastening the rope around herself, she grabbed hold of the rope and nodded to him. As Teal'c pulled her up, he could feel sharp pain across his chest and arms. It took him longer and was far more difficult than it should have been, but he did eventually get her onto the top of the bunker. Once she was secure, all Teal'c wanted to do was drop down and lie still for a while. He wouldn't admit it, but he was in a lot of pain. Of course, the situation was too serious for him to take even a moment to recover. They needed to get out of the area as soon as possible. The storm seemed to have abated a little, but from the angry clouds on the horizon, he had a feeling it was far from over and would probably get worse before it got better. Major Carter was shivering with the cold and coughing badly as she struggled to gather their supplies and carry them toward the Glider. Teal'c pushed himself to his feet, forcing thoughts of his pain to the back of his mind.

Sam was having a hard time wrapping her head around the insanity of the storm around her. She could see the raging river over the edge of the building. No wonder it had been getting rather wet inside the bunker. The sky was nearly black and thunder was rumbling persistently. She had just started to warm up inside…and now she was frozen again. Pulling the pack toward the Glider, she couldn't stop shivering. Once she reached the Glider, she was reminded of their logistical problem. Tormic was sitting in the rear seat with a shell-shocked expression on his face. He caught sight of her and a tiny, friendly smile lit his features and he lifted one hand in a slight wave. Sam smiled back, her mind wondering what Teal'c's solution to this little issue might be. She turned back to ask him, only to find the Jaffa slowly walking toward her with a pained expression on his face and a slightly grey tinge to his face.

"Teal'c! Are you alright?" She asked, putting her hand on his arm. "You don't look so good."

"I will be fine. I remain slightly weak from my injuries."

Sam thought he looked more than "slightly weak" but she didn't comment. She just nodded and walked with him the rest of the way to the Glider. Teal'c efficiently tucked the gear into the very small amount of storage space the Glider provided. Sam waited semi-patiently. She still hadn't quite figured out how the three of them were going to fit in the glider. Tormic's smile had turned to a frown and she knew he'd just done the math and didn't like what he got any more than she did. But then, his smile returned and Sam knew he'd reached the only other logical conclusion. The one she really, _really_ didn't like. Tormic seemed like a nice guy, but she didn't really know him that well. Her lips pursed as she studied him. His smile remained friendly and hadn't increased in wattage, so she didn't feel completely violated when he pointed at her and then patted his lap.

"Oh boy." Sam muttered. It _was_ the only logical solution. They couldn't just leave the poor guy stranded here. She looked up at Teal'c. He had that serene expression on his face; that same expression of innocence that Cassie got when she tried to pretend she hadn't been up to no good with Jack. Sam sighed and repeated herself, "Oh boy…"

* * *

><p>Opening the first of the two main doors into what seemed to be the main entrance to the castle had been more difficult than Jack had expected. With the wind blowing against the doors and the massive bulk of the door, it would have been difficult no matter what. Add to that his frustratingly diminished strength and endurance and it was a miracle he'd been able to even get the door open wide enough for them to squeeze through. Daniel had tried his best to help and had actually helped pull the door those last few inches when Jack had been ready to drop. Unfortunately, the effort had cost him and he was currently on his hands and knees throwing up whatever was left in his stomach. Jack found pulling the door closed behind them was much easier thanks to the powerful gusts of wind. He slid a heavy duty looking bolt shut, thankful it hadn't been engaged when they'd been trying to get into the building. As it was, the brief calm in the storm had already passed and they'd just made it inside before the hail and lightening started up again with renewed fury.<p>

With a regretful glance at Daniel, Jack forced himself to make a careful assessment of their location. He glanced around and found that they were in an entry hall of sorts. It was huge, the ornate ceiling towered at least 100 feet above them and it was a good thirty feet across. The room ran in both directions for as far as his flashlight would illuminate. He found another door across from the first door. It was also huge and seemed to be carved out of a shiny blue metal inlaid with colored stonework. Jack headed for it. He wasn't sure how secure they were yet and he was still holding out for that nice warm bed. Pulling on the handles, Jack quickly found that this door actually opened inward. He shoved the handle and pushed against the door. He was out of breath and completely exhausted so it took far longer than it should have to get the door to move, but finally it did.

Peering into the room beyond, his P90 at the ready, Jack found it to be deserted. At least as far as he could tell. It was a cavernous room and he could only make out some of the features, but it was another big door farther away from the storm. Jack turned back and found Daniel still on his hands and knees trying to catch his breath, which was coming in pained gasps. He looked like he was going to fall over at any second. Hurrying over, Jack grasped Daniel's left shoulder and said, "One more door to go."

Daniel didn't reply, but forced himself to his feet, a process he never would have completed if it hadn't been for Jack dragging him upright. Jack had thought the last trip had been difficult, but this was even worse. Daniel was barely conscious but trying his hardest to put one foot in front of the other. Jack was too out of breath himself to even try to offer any words of encouragement at this point. He just focused on that door and the theoretical safety the room beyond offered. A sudden smashing sound from behind gave him a little more impetus to move. A tree trunk or something must have just been hurled against the first door and he really didn't want to take the chance that the door would hold. Finally, they made it past the second door and Jack headed to the left, away from the door. He wanted to get as far away as possible but he had to settle for a few feet when Daniel suddenly collapsed to his knees.

Barely keeping his hold, Jack crouched down, holding his friend steady. He got a close look at Daniel's deathly pale face and closed eyes and he knew they weren't going any further for the time being. That thought was confirmed the next second as Daniel sagged bonelessly and Jack eased him to the floor. Immediately checking for a pulse, Jack found it to be far too fast and his own cold hands felt warm against Daniel's icy skin.

"Crap. Daniel, come on, don't do this." Jack muttered, unclipping Daniel's pack and easing him onto his back. He lifted Daniel's legs on to the pack and then yanked out the emergency blanket. A thousand thoughts were running through his mind as he tried to prioritize his actions and figure out his contingency plan for the near future. He needed to make a threat assessment of the area ASAP, but he also needed to get Daniel warm. Right now, he wasn't sure exactly what was contributing the most to Daniel's condition, the head injury and the over-exertion, the blood loss or the slight hypothermia, but none of it was good. Covering him with the blanket, Jack knew that wasn't going to be enough in the long run. The room was cold and the ground was cold and hard. They were both soaked. He ran a hand over his face and took another look around.

As his eyes adjusted to the gloom, he was able to make out more details of the room. He was at a loss to even begin to estimate the size. From what he could make out in the dim light, huge was an understatement. Multiple football fields in every direction would fit in the area he could see. A glance up revealed the vaulted ceiling towering above. Inlaid into the ceiling were massive panels of what appeared to be some sort of translucent colored stones. It looked like stained glass and the panels were letting in some light from the outside. He could even see flashes of lightning. Wondering if the panels would be able to withstand the storm outside would be a waste of his precious time at this point. He already knew he didn't want to be sitting around in this open area any longer than he had to. Glancing back at Daniel who remained unresponsive, Jack made his decision. It wouldn't do any good to drag Daniel in one direction only to find they had to go in the opposite direction. Not that he would be able to drag him far, Jack reflected. He felt like lying down next to his friend and sleeping for a week. Forcing himself to his feet, he knew he had to do the necessary recon and get them somewhere safe…and hopefully warm.

* * *

><p>If Teal'c hadn't pointed it out, Sam would never have noticed that the workshop where they had found the Death Glider had been completely washed away. He had explained about the shields and how they had managed to survive the initial onslaught of the flood. Apparently, they had escaped just in time. Sam shook her head at how close they had been. Her own escape had been rather close, looking back. But the fact that they had all survived those near disasters did not mitigate the danger they were in right now. Cramped in the rear seat, on a stranger's lap no less, Sam was far from comfortable, and far from secure. While she wasn't thrilled with Tormic's arms around her, she did feel somewhat grateful each time the Glider shook or jerked in the wind. Tormic seemed to be doing fairly well with the turbulent flight; when she glanced over her shoulder at him, he had a curious expression on his face and was eagerly looking out over the landscape. It was an incredible sight, Sam had to admit. For the first time, they were able to get a slightly better perspective on the world below. The rain and darkness made it difficult to get a good idea as the world was lit by frequent flashes of lightning and not much else. From what they could see, it was every bit as craggy, rocky and dismal as they had been gathering from the ground.<p>

Sam braced her hand against the back of Teal'c's seat and gritted her teeth as they were thrown to the left and Teal'c struggled to right the craft. She called out, "Teal'c, can we get above this mess?"

"I will attempt to do so." He answered.

Sam wasn't sure the repaired Glider could handle spaceflight, but even if they could take it high enough to get above the storm it might help. They needed to be able to see where they were going. They had only a vague idea of where the castle was from their present location. With the storm, visibility was extremely limited. As Teal'c brought the craft higher, Sam asked, "Have you hear anything from the Colonel or Daniel?"

"I have not since before the storm."

"Clearly the storm is messing with transmission."

"Indeed."

"I hope that's all it is." Sam said, feeling the turbulence seem to ease somewhat. They had risen above most of the weather now, although not all of it was behind them. Seeing the sky was still mostly darkened all around and above them, Sam frowned. Her frown deepened in the next moment when the Glider suddenly reacted as if it had hit a brick wall. She asked, "What was that?"

"I am uncertain. It is as if we struck something." Teal'c replied, as mystified as she was. He had seen nothing, yet the readout on his console did now indicate there was some sort of a barrier. He explained, "There seems to be a wall or obstacle that is not visible."

Sam struggled to see past the darkness outside, and then suddenly she saw the sun. She shielded her eyes in defense against the suddenly bright sight. She was only able to see the sun for a very brief moment, but that moment had been enough to answer a few of her questions. Based on what Teal'c had said, there _was_ something out there. And that something was keeping them from leaving. It was also mostly obliterating the sun and trapping the weather. This was not good…nor was it natural…

* * *

><p>After a few minutes of exploring, Jack had realized that he was not in some random cavernous room; he was in a well laid out marketplace that once must have been a bustling hub of activity. He had found aisle after aisle of stalls that still displayed wares of every sort. Things looked run down and as if they'd been left in a hurry. Actually, the place had that look of a once successful place that had been destroyed by war. No bodies. <em>At least not that he'd found yet<em>, Jack thought, but it still looked war torn. Huh. So what had happened here in the once grand city of T'zabt anyway?

Jack stopped by an ornate fountain in the center of a little cul-de-sac. Water was still flowing out from what appeared to be a natural spring in the rock foundation. Jack tried a taste and found it refreshing. Good. They were out of water. Now, he still needed to find a safe place to hole up for a while. Grateful he had not yet encountered any sign of danger or another living soul for that matter, Jack nevertheless was starting to feel the faint beginnings of anxiety. He knew it was mostly from his own over exhaustion and the quickly diminishing adrenalin, but he also hated the fact that he'd left Daniel alone and completely unprotected for a good…twenty minutes now. He snapped his watch cover back in place and limped across the little open area to yet another of the little "shops." If this one didn't have anything to offer, he was headed back to check on Daniel.

It had nothing to offer, unless he had been hoping for some very fine serving utensils fashioned carefully from a beautiful blue metal. Frustrated, Jack turned and started heading back. He paused at the corner, feeling a slight sense of concern. Everything looked very much alike. Which way had he come from? Rubbing his head, Jack headed to the right. Halfway down the aisle, he realized he had never seen these shops before. _Crap._ Hurrying as best he could to the end of another "street," Jack paused and finally saw the main doors to his left. So he'd just gotten twisted around somewhere along the way. He was about to head back when he saw what looked like a small house down another little aisle to the right. It was definitely different from the shops and stalls he'd been looking at all this time. It was tiny but delicately painted in a pale blue with gold filigree decorations around the one window and beside the doorframe. Cassie would have been in love with it. Jack smiled slightly realizing that Carter would probably be in love with it too. His smile disappeared as his thoughts turned to his Major. She and Teal'c had been out of contact for a very long time now.

Pushing the door open, Jack also pushed his thoughts of the rest of his team out of his mind for the moment. He had to concentrate on the here and now, as there was certainly nothing he could do for them at present. But he did need to do what he could to help Daniel. As soon as Jack entered, he felt the first rush of relief that he'd felt in a very long time. It could have been a storybook cottage straight out of Goldilocks. There was a tiny kitchenette and a very big fireplace in the corner with wood already stacked beside it. And best of all, a comfy looking couch and a nice warm bed. Best turn of events since this entire rotten trip had started. Jack wasted no time in heading for the fireplace and starting up a roaring fire. Feeling the heat made him realize how cold he really was and how uncomfortable his soaked jacket felt. He took off his pack and dropped it next to the couch, then headed out.

A few short minutes later and Jack was back at Daniel's side. He wasn't surprised that there hadn't been much of a change in his condition, but Jack was hoping that even that short period had given Daniel time to recover enough to make it to the little cottage. Jack wasted no time in trying to wake him up, "Daniel, wake up. We've got reservations."

It took a painful eight and a half minutes before Jack was able to elicit any response whatsoever from his friend. Finally, Jack was relieved to get a response, even if it had been a pained groan. "Hey, Daniel, come on, we need to go."

"Jack?"

"Yeah, open your eyes."

"Go away."

"Not happening. Open your eyes."

Daniel groaned again, "Last time I listen to you."

"What?" Jack asked, still waiting for his eyes to open.

"I should never have had that much to drink."

Now Jack was _confused_. Confused and concerned because he had a feeling _Daniel_ was the one who was really confused. "Daniel, open your eyes. Do you know where you are?"

Daniel finally managed to get his left eye open for all of a split second. He moaned and squeezed it shut again. "Leave me alone."

"Daniel, I'm trying to get you to a bed with a fireplace view. Cooperate. You're freezing."

"Shut the window." Daniel mumbled.

Jack had the distinct feeling that he was losing the battle to keep Daniel awake. He shook his good shoulder and spoke a bit more loudly, "Daniel!" He got another miserable groan for a response. "Daniel, I'm sorry, but you've got to wake up. I can't drag you. You need to wake up. Let me see your eyes."

"They're blue and nearsighted. You already know this."

Well, that was progress. Jack smiled. "I need to see if your brain is going to leak out your ears anytime soon."

"You make me open my eyes right now and I will puke all over you I swear."

"You don't have anything left to puke up."

Apparently Daniel disagreed, because he suddenly rolled onto his side and started retching. Jack grimaced, hating that he had to move Daniel at all. He certainly was not up to it. He'd already been through more than he should have been with a serious head injury. Didn't matter what grading scale you checked, Jack knew that he had a severe concussion. After several minutes, Daniel finally stopped retching and lay still in exhaustion. After a moment, he slid his eyes open and looked up miserably at Jack who was rechecking his pulse. Jack shook his head, "That bad, eh?"

Daniel whispered, "What happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Party."

Jack frowned, "Party? What are you talking about?"

"Janet's party." Daniel whispered, eyes sliding shut.

"Daniel, that was three weeks ago." Jack said, feeling his concern increase again. "That's the last thing you remember?"

"I remember the Hitchcock marathon and the beer."

Jack shook his head. They had stayed up until four AM after Janet's birthday party watching Hitchcock and drinking way too much. If that was the last thing Daniel remembered, this was even worse than Jack had thought. But they weren't going to fix anything by staying put. Daniel was still shaking with the cold. Jack tried again, "Daniel, we need to take a short walk. I found a warm place for us to camp out."

Daniel was studying him silently, clearly not following.

"Trust me, we need to go."

"Ok."

"Ok." Jack nodded, and gathered up the blanket and Daniel's pack. He fastened it on his own vest, and then said, "I'll help you up."

* * *

><p>As the craft began tumbling back downward, Sam realized they were in more trouble than she'd initially thought. If the barrier, or whatever it was that they kept running into, was preventing them from leaving via air, they might well be trapped. She felt Tormic squeeze her waist and she was actually grateful he had a hold on her because she had almost been thrown into the side of the canopy with that last bump. She coughed suddenly and found herself seeing stars. For a moment, she eased her head against her arm that she was using to brace herself on the back of Teal'c's seat. Her head was pounding and she really wanted off this rollercoaster. Her head came up as she heard Teal'c saying something in Goa'uld that sounded like it had probably been something a Goa'uld sailor would have said…if there was such a thing as a Goa'uld sailor.<p>

"What is it, Teal'c?" Sam asked, peering around the seat back.

"I believe we are in trouble."

"Really? That's new." Sam quipped, realizing it came out naturally. Hanging around the Colonel had proven to be a bad influence on Daniel over the years and it was now rubbing off on her too. _Great._

Teal'c seemed a bit preoccupied to notice the irony in the situation. He said tensely, "We seem to have sustained damage."

"From what? We didn't hit that barrier that hard!" Sam protested.

"Perhaps it gave off some sort of energy that did damage the craft. I am unable to ascertain what is exactly wrong, but we are losing altitude and power at an alarming rate."

Sam knew he wasn't joking a second later when they suddenly dropped so fast that she thought her stomach was going to fly right out of her mouth. She heard an exclamation of surprise and fear from her seatbelt and she prayed that Tormic didn't have a weak stomach. She'd never had anyone vomit all over her back and she really didn't want to experience that now. Thankfully, the Glider leveled out and Tormic held steady. Sam saw the mountains rising up out of the darkness ahead of them and an exclamation tore out of her throat.

Teal'c was ahead of her though, and jerked the craft in a tight curve around the jutting rocks. Lightning struck so close to the canopy that Sam was sure she felt the heat. She certainly was blinded for a second there. Teal'c maintained control and brought them above an outcropping of trees. Suddenly, illuminated by multiple simultaneous flashes of lightning, the castle rose out of the blackness.

"Teal'c! There it is!" Sam said excitedly.

"I also see it." He said, turning the Glider toward the sight.

Sam's eyes widened as they drew closer and she realized the castle was actually not just a castle, but a huge city carved into the mountainside. "It's huge!" She remarked, enthralled by the majestic sight, but feeling discouraged by the thoughts of trying to find the rest of the team in such a vast place. _If they even reached it._ Sam thought ruefully. They hadn't had any confirmation that the Colonel and Daniel had made it that far at all. She felt slightly ill at the thought that they could be stranded out somewhere in the storm below. She had seen more than one tree ripped right out of the ground by the powerful winds. If they hadn't found some substantial shelter, they were most likely…_Stop it._ She shook her head. She wasn't going to think like that. She looked again at the huge city. They were safe. They were inside somewhere. They just hadn't called because of the interference from the storm. That was what she was going to believe.

"It appears as the city of Minas Tirith." Teal'c's words interrupted her thoughts.

Sam nodded, amused at his reference. Teal'c was a fan of almost every genre of film but especially enjoyed science fiction and fantasy. The city below did look similar to the City of the Kings, except it was set up higher on the mountain and the entire city had been carved out of the mountain. It was an impressive sight, made somewhat forbidding by the angry weather all around. The longer she looked at it, the more apprehensive Sam became. There was something evil about the place. Feeling silly for thinking so, Sam couldn't help but think the place looked haunted.

Another jolt shook her out of her reverie and she realized they were falling again. "Teal'c?"

"I believe we have no choice but to land."

"But where?"

"I will attempt to choose a suitable place, but I am not certain I will have much say in the matter." He remarked through gritted teeth. The Glider was fighting him and he was struggling just to keep it airborne; let alone to choose the flight path.

Sam started looking for suitable places, analyzing the city below. She could see a huge wall surrounding a wide grassy area far ahead of them. She couldn't see for sure, but she thought it looked like it might be the main gate to the front of the castle. They weren't going to make it that far. They had come around the side of the mountain and were at the level of some of the highest towers, but quickly descending to the mid-level portion of the city. She couldn't see any open area to land in, but with every shudder and drop of the Glider, she began looking for even a small, flat rooftop that they could possibly utilize. Another blast of wind tossed the Glider to the left and she knew they were out of time and options. The side of a building came rushing up toward her and Sam squeezed her eyes shut, held her breath, and awaited the inevitable…


	21. Chapter 21

Sam waited for the inevitable…but nothing happened. Well, not exactly nothing, but what happened wasn't exactly the something she had been preparing herself to experience. Instead of slamming into a building or the side of the mountain, she felt herself squeezed nearly in half by Tormic. Teal'c's insanely quick maneuvering had spared them from a sudden death, but it had also nearly thrown her into the canopy. Despite the rather clingy nature of her 'seatbelt,' Sam was exceedingly grateful that Tormic was holding onto her so tightly. She sucked in a hasty breath as they once more descended rapidly, but this time not straight into a building. Teal'c was aiming for the one, very small, open area available to them. It looked like some sort of a scenic overlook. It could have even been someone's front porch for all she knew. There wasn't much room to land there, but they were out of options. The Glider was faltering badly and the weather was, incredibly, still getting worse. They needed to get to some sort of shelter.

She couldn't believe it when, not thirty seconds later, they made their inglorious, but successful landing. For a moment, no one moved. Teal'c had brought it down so carefully that Sam didn't think he'd even gotten a scratch on it. Of course, the hail that was buffeting them would put a lot of dents into the Glider before too long. Sam peered through the canopy, looking for someplace to go. Thankfully, Tormic seemed to get the hint that he wasn't needed to hold her in place anymore and he released her waist.

"Teal'c?" Sam asked, noting a doorway about ten feet from them.

"I believe the doorway will be our best option, Major Carter. We must not remain here." Teal'c acknowledged. He had been looking the opposite direction and seen the lightning illuminate the dark sky. It was actually flashing so continuously that the world appeared lit in an eerie sort of daylight. The waves of driving rain continued, lashed with hail the size of oranges. They needed to move quickly.

After gathering everything they could carry between the three of them, Teal'c lowered the seats and instantly they were assaulted by the icy rain and ferocious wind. Teal'c was having a difficult time staying on his feet. Major Carter and Tormic were leaning against each other, attempting to help stay upright. With the wind blowing so hard, they made good time reaching the doorway. Teal'c actually had to push back from the wall to attempt to open the door. The door did not seem destined to open, however. It had no visible handle or lever and was of a heavy blue metal. Teal'c dug his fingers into the cracks around the door, but without success. He looked up at Major Carter whose hair was whipping her face.

"It will not open."

"We have to get in there! There isn't anywhere else to go!" Sam shouted back.

"Move away." Teal'c motioned. The others complied and he wished desperately for his staff weapon. He fired the zat at the door. Zats had a way of opening some electronically controlled doors and he was hoping that this might be one such door. _Nothing. _He fired again, then tried the door. Still no result. Feeling that hopeless feeling start to well up again, Teal'c fired several times in rapid succession. Even as he fired, he heard Major Carter cry out in pain as a piece of hail struck her on the arm. The hail was beginning to batter them and at the rate it was coming, and the size of the pieces, they could very easily die in a short amount of time.

Just as he was about to give up, he was certain he had heard a click. It was probably his imagination considering how loud the storm was, but he decided to try the door once more. With a sense of tremendous relief, Teal'c felt the door give. Pulling on it with all his strength, he finally was able to move it aside. The door suddenly slid into the wall, apparently having been released from the jam it had been in before he fired at it. Teal'c held the zat at the ready and wrestled for his flashlight. Shining it into the darkness beyond, he couldn't see any immediate threat and they really needed to get out of the weather.

"Major Carter!" He shouted and she immediately moved inside, with Tormic close on her heels, struggling with his load. Teal'c rushed in after them. He stepped to the right of the doorway and shined his light around. They were in what seemed to be an entryway of some nature. It was completely empty.

Major Carter had the flashlight on her P90 turned on and was surveying the left side of the room. The wind was howling through the open door and Teal'c turned back to attempt to close the door. No matter what he did, it didn't want to move. He had a feeling he might have destroyed the mechanism when he had repeatedly zatted the door. They needed to get out of the room. Teal'c heard a loud creaking from the other side of the room and turned to see a huge wooden door open. Major Carter was peering beyond the now open door. Tormic was waiting a few feet away, huddled against the wall.

Teal'c crossed the room and joined her.

"I think we have a way out." She looked at him with a smile, then headed through the doorway, P90 at the ready.

Teal'c indicated that Tormic should move through after her and he quickly did so. Teal'c took one look over his shoulder at the fury of the storm, and then followed them through the doorway. Once he had stepped away from the doorway, the door slid shut again. The noise of the storm was reduced considerably although the temperature remained very cold. Teal'c didn't normally find that temperature extremes affected him, but he was feeling decidedly chilly at present. He could hear Major Carter's teeth chattering and he knew they needed to find somewhere to warm up. Somewhere safe would be good.

"Teal'c, this hallway ends in a staircase." She shined her flashlight up and down. There was nothing in particular to be seen that close. She looked at him, "Which way do you think?"

"I do not believe it matters at this point. It seems we are at a high enough elevation to avoid flooding."

"Unless this storm gets even more surreal." Sam offered.

Teal'c inclined his head slightly.

"If Colonel O'Neil and Daniel made it here…they'd be down somewhere lower most likely. I think we should try down." She received a nod and started leading the way down the stairs. Besides her very logical reason for going down…it was simply easier. Coughing almost continually, Sam decided easier was absolutely the best idea at this point. First warm, secure place she found they were stopping. She glanced hurriedly at her watch. 1343. It had been a long day. And it wasn't over yet. Sam focused on the stairs, feeling herself get slightly lightheaded after the bout of coughing. After what seemed like a lifetime, the stairs finally opened up to a landing.

Pausing, Sam shined her light around. The stairs continued downward, but a wide room opened up before them. Again, it seemed completely deserted. Teal'c moved before her into the area and began surveying it carefully. Sam leaned against the wall and let him. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she realized there was actually a faint light visible in the room. A faint, intermittent light. Looking around, Sam noticed for the first time a set of ten variously shaped windows in the far wall. The windows appeared to be almost like stained glass, but out of some sort of a stone. The lightning from the storm was illuminating them. Even as she wondered if the windows would withstand the storm, Sam was struck with the thought of how beautiful the windows would surely look with full sunlight shining through them. It must be amazing, she thought.

_Sunlight._ What she wouldn't give to see the sun! They had been in a dismal, grey, stormy world for a week now and the desire to sit under the warmth of the sun was almost unbearable.

Sam coughed into her sleeve, then looked up as Teal'c walked over. "Major Carter, I believe I have found a place where we will be safe and may rest for a while."

_Rest for a while._ Boy, did that sound good! Sam was too tired to smile, and simply nodded, forcing her feet to move again. Tormic trailed along silently. Again, she felt bad for the poor guy. They at least went through the gate with the knowledge of the danger they could face. Tormic hadn't asked for any of this and here he was, trapped because of their inadvertent actions. She was grateful that he didn't seem to be particularly angry with them. Daniel had probably smoothed everything over when he'd spoken to him the night before. Sam frowned. She really needed to hear his voice, or Colonel O'Neil's voice. On a crazy world where there had been far too much danger already, being out of contact for this long was definitely disturbing.

"Here." Teal'c's voice broke her out of her reverie.

Sam looked up and could have cried. It looked like a furniture store. Her mind was too muddled to even attempt to come up with any kind of logical hypothesis for the room full of assorted couches and chairs. She didn't care. She just wanted to find a comfy couch and curl up on it. Teal'c was leading them to one side and she noticed a few couches set in a semi-circle around a large metal brazier. Teal'c knelt in front of it and finagled with it until it glowed a cheery orange. Sam dropped the supplies she'd been carrying next to an oversized blue couch nearest to the heater. Quickly taking off her pack, she sat down and leaned close to the fire. Tormic had also dumped his gear and circled around to stake his own couch.

Teal'c removed his pack, but did not sit down. "I will survey the area and return shortly, Major Carter."

Sam nodded, "Be careful Teal'c. Don't go far."  
>"I will not." He nodded and turned away.<p>

Sam was almost giddy with their sudden good fortune. Her hands were almost painfully tingly as they warmed back up in front of the heater. Nothing else was warm yet, but it was a good start. She rubbed her arms, and then grabbed her radio. It was worth a chance, she thought. Thumbing the button, Sam called, "Colonel O'Neil? Daniel? Come in please."

* * *

><p>Jack was startled out of his semi-sleeping state by a burst of static from his radio. It took him a moment to get reoriented to the here and now. He had only meant to sit for a moment at catch his breath; he hadn't meant to fall asleep…even if it had felt good to doze for a while. Not opening his eyes or moving from his slouched position on the couch, Jack hit the button on his radio, "Carter? Teal'c?"<p>

He waited but got no response. After a few repeated attempts, he gave up. He wasn't even getting static now. It would have been great to hear their voices. He hated being out of contact for this long. Not that he didn't have the utmost confidence in Teal'c and Carter; but he knew they were both in rough shape and with an unknown person with them. Tormic hadn't struck Jack as a terrible guy, though he'd had a bad moment seeing the man's panicked eyes and his gun against Daniel's head back on the planet. Even so, Jack was inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt. He just would have preferred to have everybody together again.

With a frustrated groan, Jack sat forward, leaned his elbows on his knees and rubbed his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so completely exhausted. He sighed and lowered his hands and glanced at his watch. 1400. He'd dozed off for about twenty minutes at best. Sighing, Jack sat up and glanced at his left hand. The bandage had long ago fallen off, and he was able to get the best view of the wound that he'd had in a while. His hand was still numb, but the numbness was continuing to fade and he could actually move his hand and fingers. There was no more drainage, but the bite area was still a bright angry red. Since he'd been fairly out of it as of late, Jack wasn't sure if it looked better or not. Either way, he needed to clean it and he figured he should probably also check his leg wound. His leg was steadily throbbing and he knew he should get it elevated. First things first. Dragging his pack closer, Jack dug for what was left of the medical supplies. Not much. He skipped the last of the gauze, opting instead for a scrap of cloth from what they'd found at the bunker. Using the last of the water from his canteen to wet the cloth, Jack shook his head. He should have thought to refill his canteen when he had been over by the spring. His focus had been elsewhere at the time and he had to admit to himself that he wasn't thinking very clearly. He'd go back in a while and refill their canteens.

Cleaning the wound to his leg left him sweating and gritting his teeth. It had needed a lot of effort to clean out the accumulated blood and dirt. Tossing the cloth on the ground, he grabbed once more for the med kit. He skipped the Tylenol and headed for the next level up. He was the only able-bodied person around and needed his leg to cooperate with him. A careful recon of the area was still on his to-do list and he needed to be able to walk without shooting pain, if possible. Groaning, he leaned back again, not even bothering to lift his leg onto the little footstool next to the couch. He just needed to be still for a few more moments. Give the medication time to work.

So he let his head fall back against the couch, grateful that whatever aliens populated this forsaken world liked comfortable seating. Why weren't more worlds they visited populated with comfort-loving aliens? The Tok'ra liked sitting on rock. Of course, they were actually very hard-assed anyway. Jack snorted, knowing he was way over the edge if he was snickering at his own dumb jokes. But still. Were Earthlings the _only_ people in the entire _galaxy_ who liked to sit on something soft? What was up with that anyway? Rolling his head back and forth, trying to ease the tension from his neck, he glanced over at Daniel.

Daniel had been unconscious the moment his head hit the pillow; and he'd only been barely conscious before that. At least he finally seemed to have warmed up some, Jack thought. He wasn't shaking with the cold anymore. Cleaning all the blood off his face had taken some time and he honestly didn't look a lot better for it. Without the blood, all the bruises showed up better and looked even blacker against the pallor of his face. There wasn't much else to be done at this point. Jack decided it was probably the best thing for him just to rest for as long as possible. Their current setting seemed fairly secure and it was definitely warmer and more comfortable than the last few places they had been holed up. Jack wasn't convinced of their safety yet and he wouldn't be until he had a better look around. But that was just going to have to wait a bit. He allowed his eyes to slide shut.

* * *

><p>Teal'c felt hesitant to leave Major Carter with Tormic. She did seem to be doing better than during the night; but she was far from well. She needed to rest and he needed to examine the area for dangers. So he left them. He would have loved being able to sit down and enter a long and much needed session of Kel'no'reem, but that would have to wait. The area they were in seemed secure and was surprisingly comfortable. As he walked down a long hall to the north of the sitting area, he realized he was in some sort of living quarters. It had the appearance of an apartment complex. All along the one side of the hallway were cubicles that contained bunks and other bedroom furniture. Each cubicle was about the size of his own quarters back at the SGC. The other side of the hall was decorated with floor to ceiling murals and decorative scrollwork. Even in the gloom, Teal'c could tell the artwork was beautiful. He refrained from taking the time to analyze the murals in detail. He still had higher priorities in mind. He reached the end of the hallway and found himself at the intersection of another hallway.<p>

Glancing to the right and the left, he couldn't see anything of interest initially. But he did hear running water somewhere. Closing his eyes, he focused on the sound and it seemed to be coming from the left. Turning that direction, Teal'c headed down the hallway. A few yards down the hallway, the right side opened up to overlook a huge lake. Teal'c paused in appreciation for the beauty before him. Clearly the castle, and city, were carved right out of the mountain and the caves within the mountain. The lake glimmered a dark black in the darkness. In this room, as back in the area he had left the others, there were huge stones in the walls allowing light to filter in and illuminate the room somewhat. The lake flowed away into a river that disappeared on the far side of the room below. Nearer to where he stood, a small but beautiful waterfall cascaded down the side of the rock face into the lake below.

All along the edge where he stood ran an ornately carved stone barrier. Turning to the opposite direction, Teal'c found what appeared to be an eating area. It reminded him very much of the "food courts" that were such a key element of Tau'ri dining. There were several dozen scattered chairs and small tables around the area. Toward the back seemed to be a kitchen. Teal'c headed there. He was not surprised to find that the two food preparation areas were in a state of great disarray. There was every indication of panic and looting. Feeling somewhat disappointed, he started to turn away when he caught site of a large metal box in a back corner. It appeared to have been damaged in whatever chaos had occurred. But it also appeared to have withstood the damage.

It looked like an industrial refrigerator. Teal'c could hear a gentle hum from the box and felt hope stir. Perhaps this was one item that had not been looted. After checking it over carefully and finding no way to open the latch, Teal'c pulled out the zat. Four shots later and the latch gave. Opening the door, Teal'c felt great satisfaction in finding that it was indeed a refrigerator. And it still contained shelves and shelves of…well, he wasn't sure what yet, but it was some sort of food. They were extremely low on supplies, so whatever it was would have to do. Selecting several assorted packages at random, Teal'c stowed them in his pack. He closed the door again and felt the latch click into place. Turning back, Teal'c decided he should take a quick look in the opposite direction and then head back.

He hurried back in the opposite direction, past the original hallway and found himself at a dead end before long. To one side, he found facilities he knew would brighten Major Carter's day even more. Showers. And with _hot_ water. He checked. Twice. Smiling, he almost wanted to stick his hand in the warm water again. It felt good. But that would have to wait. Teal'c turned to head back. He was about to turn down the hallway to head back when he realized the wall directly opposite the hall looked oddly like it was a sliding panel. He hadn't noticed it initially because he'd been focusing on the sound of the water. But now, he walked over to survey the area more closely. Sure enough, it looked like a part of the wall, but now he could see that there was actually a doorway inlaid with the beautiful stonework. He tried to force it, again without results. Zatting it, the door slid open into the wall. Teal'c peered inside. There wasn't much to see. It was a tiny room. Looked like a closet of some nature. With a puzzled frown, Teal'c turned back.

* * *

><p>Sam was having a difficult time staying awake. Her weakened state, exhaustion, stress and now the cozy warmth flooding over her were a convincing combination. Blinking slowly, she tried to remind herself Tormic might be a danger and she really should stay alert. The flickering light from the heater illuminated Tormic's face across from her. He was staring into the glow, seemingly completely oblivious to everything. Sam thought she had a pretty good idea of what was going through his mind. Having been traveling through the gate for years now, Sam knew that look well. It was the lingering stunned look of someone whose entire worldview had just been shattered. Some people coped better with it than others did. There had been plenty examples of both sides of that fence over the past few years.<p>

Her mind went instantly back to K'tau. That had been an example of people not really dealing with things very well. Actually, she corrected herself, most of the people had been dealing with things well. They just weren't dealing with things in the way _she_ thought they should have been dealing with things. Many of the people had been calmly awaiting Ragnarök. While that was respectable, Sam still had trouble understanding why people wouldn't take an option when it was presented to them. She had nearly destroyed their world, but they had done everything in their power to rectify the situation and save the people who didn't seem to want to be saved. She knew Daniel had done all he could think of as well to convince the people. But in the end, he had been able to more or less accept their decision. She never would have and she knew Colonel O'Neill never would have either. Frowning, Sam found herself feeling more awake…and once more furious with herself.

At times like these, she found herself feeling like she had two very argumentative personalities in her brain. One personality was arguing that it wasn't her fault, how could she have known? The other was screaming that she hadn't taken enough precautions with the Gate…how did she even presume to know what she was doing. It was enough to give her a headache. Which she really didn't need. She rubbed her chest after coughing again. She couldn't hide the fact that she was smart; she didn't exactly flaunt it, but there it was. But being smart had its own unique complications and issues. No matter how she sliced it or rationalized it, she always came back around to blaming herself. Not that they _all_ hadn't made plenty of serious mistakes through the years. But she'd nearly killed an entire planet. And two members of SG-6 _had_ died.

Sam shook her head and stood up abruptly. She had to stop thinking. And talking to herself. She really could be her own worst enemy. Tormic glanced up at her with concern on his face. Forcing herself to calm down, Sam managed a small smile and waved him down. Walking around the area, she was able to focus her mind on their current situation and get back to the issues at hand rather than dwelling on the past. Surveying the area didn't really give her much more of an idea of what the place was, but it was a good distraction. Clearly, it had been some sort of a gathering place for whoever had lived here in the past. While the furniture was rather worn out in many cases, it didn't seem as old as she would have expected. Puzzled, Sam had almost completed her circuit of the area when she saw Teal'c returning.

He saw her and smiled.

Heading toward him, Sam said, "You look like you have good news."

"I have found several things that may be pleasing."

"I could go for pleasing. What?"

Teal'c set his pack down on a table. "I found what had once been an eating establishment. I have returned with various foods. Also, I have found some well equipped and functional facilities."

Sam paused, a box of who knew what in her hand. She looked up, "Facilities? As in..?"

Teal'c nodded slightly.

"With showers?" Sam barely dared to hope.

Again he nodded.

Only the congestion and pain in her chest and weariness kept her from jumping up and down right there. "I am so glad to hear that!" She managed. "Hot water?"

"Indeed."

"I'm heading there now."

"Would it not be wise to eat something? We have had very little today and you still need to regain your strength." Teal'c said gently, unpacking the rest of the food. Tormic had joined them by now and was hovering politely nearby.

Sam smiled, "I think you have some strength to regain yourself, Teal'c. But ok, eat and then I call the first shower."

"Agreed."

"So any idea what any of this is?"

"I merely selected several different packages in the hopes of finding acceptable foods."

"Good plan." She opened one box and nodded at Tormic when he motioned to a box of his own. The box consisted of several small biscuits. They were ice cold. Sam said, "I think we're going to have to warm this stuff up on the heater."

Teal'c nodded, unpacking a box that held a dozen…

"Twinkies?" Sam exclaimed, suddenly realizing how much she needed some chocolate or sugar.

They looked an awful lot like Twinkies. Teal'c held one out to her. They were about the same size as a thick hot dog or sausage but otherwise looked just like the cream filled goodie. Sam headed for the heater with what she could carry. The Twinkie was the first thing she was going to defrost.

* * *

><p>The only thing that motivated Jack to move was the fact that the room was starting to get a pinch chilly and Daniel was starting to stir uncomfortably. He dragged himself off the couch with a grunt and hobbled over to the fireplace to throw a few more logs on the fire. The rest had helped, but he could have been very content to see how long he could keep the resting thing up. Jack would never have admitted it to anyone but he knew he wasn't at all at his best. The alien version of the flu had taken a lot out of him. Straightening up, he stretched and headed for the front door. A quick glance around outside showed him a silent ghost town. In all the time they'd been in the odd little house, he'd heard nothing but the crackling of the fire and the storm. Even though it was muted, the rage of the storm still could be heard inside the mountain. He tried his radio again.<p>

"Carter? Teal'c. Come in." Not really expecting anything, he wasn't surprised. Frowning and allowing himself a moment of worry, he was about to try again when he was interrupted by a groan from behind him.

Turning, he headed over to Daniel's side and dropped down on the footstool. "Daniel?"

"Jack?"

Jack almost smiled. Over the years, he'd heard Daniel say his name about a million different times with a million different inflections and a million different subliminal messages embedded in that simple one-syllable name. The level and depth of conversation they could have merely by batting each other's name back and forth was a source of constant frustration to Carter...and somewhat legendary around the SGC. But that _had_ to have been about the most utterly miserable and agonized pronunciation he'd ever heard. He lowered his voice, "Yeah."

"Make it stop."

"Make what stop?"

"Stop the spinning."

Daniel had his eyes squeezed shut and Jack saw now that he was gripping the bed with his left hand with a white-knuckled death grip. Jack frowned, "Are you dizzy?"

"Yes."

"I guess I'm not surprised. You hit your head hard."

"What happened?"

"What do you remember?"

"Just tell me. My head hurts too much to think."

Jack gave a brief synopsis of the past week. "Sound familiar?"

"No." He groaned and abruptly broke out into a sweat and rolled to his side, retching violently.

Putting out his arm quickly, Jack stopped him from rolling off the edge of the bed. "You haven't got anything left to throw up, trust me."

Of course, just because that was the truth didn't really do anything to reduce the nausea. Daniel was only peripherally aware of what Jack was saying, but he knew he meant well. Right at the moment, all he knew for sure was that his head was in the process of exploding. Never in his life had he been so nauseated. Not even when his appendix had inconveniently decided to do its own exploding had he felt quite this awful. Adding to his misery was the fact that he couldn't for the life of him even begin to remember how on earth he'd gotten into this mess in the first place.

Jack held onto Daniel's shoulder for a minute until he seemed like he wasn't going to be falling over the edge, then he reached out for the one canteen they still had some water in. Pouring it on the last clean scrap of cloth he had, Jack laid it against Daniel's neck. For several minutes, he just waited silently, knowing the last thing Daniel needed at present was an obnoxious voice. Finally, the retching eased and Daniel lay still, breathing raggedly, drenched in sweat.

Another five minutes passed before he seemed to recover somewhat. He brought his left hand up and pressed it against his head. Jack asked softly, "Gonna live?"

"Do I have to?" was the whispered response.

Jack smiled, "Yes. We were in the middle of a chess game before we shipped out for this trip. Besides, you owe me."

"Why?"

"Oh I have a list."

Daniel sighed and flopped over onto his back, hand still to his head. "You can have the Oreos in my office. Now, let me die."

"I don't think so." Jack snorted, "I'm willing to give you some leeway here as you were recently run over by a tornado, but that excuse only goes so far y'know. I expect you back on duty in the very near future."

"Where are we?"

_Oh boy._ Jack thought. There was either an echo in here or he had a case of severe short-term memory loss on his hands. Again, he briefly explained what had taken place. "I still haven't heard anything from Teal'c or Carter all day."

"What are we going to do?"

"Well." Jack rubbed his eyes. "To start with I need to get some more water. And I really want to do a bit more exploring. We seem fairly secure, but I didn't have a lot of time to look around." He glanced at his watch then looked back at Daniel. "Do you think you would be ok if I went exploring for a bit?"

He got a noncommittal grunt as a reply.

"Uhhuh." Jack muttered, "That didn't sound convincing."

"Go."

Jack shook his head. He didn't like it, not one tiny bit. But, as had become common on this trip, he had no choice. They needed water and they needed answers. He stared at the door and decided he had better just get a move on it. Faster he left, faster he got back…hopefully with answers. He turned as he felt a hand on his arm.

Daniel had his eyes open and was holding out his hand. "Give me a gun and go."

Jack reached for the Beretta and put it in his hand. "You gonna remember not to shoot me?"

Daniel smiled slightly.

"I'll take that as a yes." Jack said. "Ok then." He pulled on his jacket and vest and picked up his P90. He touched his radio, then grabbed Daniel's off his vest. Testing the radios, he was relieved to actually have reception between the two of them. Good. So maybe the reception was just bad over longer distances. He laid the radio on Daniel's chest. "I don't know what the range is, but I'm telling you right now…I'm going to be frequently checking."

"Got it." Daniel acknowledged as his eyes slid shut.

Jack studied him for a moment, and then reached for their canteens.

* * *

><p>Outside the city, the ferocious winds and torrential downpour continued unabated. It was as if the very fabric of nature had been rent. The few people and creatures out in the storm were struggling to remain alive. A weakened doorway of a lower level entrance to the castle suddenly shredded under the onslaught of terrified beasts slamming desperately against it. A rush of water flowed down the rickety wooden steps. The <em>sha<em> pack tumbled down the steps into the cellar. They had been running from the far north plains ever since the storm had began. Once inside the cellar, the _sha_ immediately began searching for a way deeper into the safety of the city. Of course, long ago, the walls and barriers had been constructed with keeping such beasts out of the city. However, those walls and barriers had been constructed a very long time ago and had been subjected to storms the likes of which meteorologists could only have nightmares about. So it wasn't long before the pack _did_ find their way out of the cellar and into the edge of the fine city of T'zabt.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere in the fine city of T'zabt, something else was stirring…<p> 


	22. Chapter 22

Well, it might have _looked_ like a Twinkie but it sure didn't taste like a Twinkie. Sam grimaced. Tormic looked like he thought they were fine, but then he hadn't been expecting a sweet cream filled pastry treat either. Sam tried another bite, this time without any preconceived notions about taste. On second taste, she was a bit less shocked. It actually seemed to be some sort of meat and potato tasting concoction. The creamy inside didn't quite have the taste or consistency of mashed potatoes but it was close. The outside of the odd little food tasted like...well, it actually tasted an awful lot like _cod_. Sam couldn't help turning up her nose again. It didn't really taste that bad, but it was such an odd combination that she was having trouble adapting to it. Of course, it was filling up her stomach so she really shouldn't complain. She looked over at Teal'c.

Teal'c, of course, was eating without any issue whatsoever. He and Daniel were very easy to please when it came to food; at least most of the time. It _had_ taken them a while before they could convince him that Jell-O was safe to eat. Sam smiled slightly remembering the first time they'd set a bowl of blue Jell-O in front of him in the mess. The expression on his usually impassive face had been something to behold. Sam took another bite and stopped thinking about the food as resembling Twinkies at all. Another package of food Teal'c had warmed up had consisted of some orange pellets that tasted rather a lot like carrots. Sam had only tried a couple of those before she decided her stomach really wasn't up to alien carrots. She wasn't particularly fond of _Earth_ carrots, if truth be told. She glanced back at their little feast. They had also tried some patties of some sort of meat. Sam had wondered if it could have been from the _sha_ beasts. They basically tasted like hamburgers and would have been better with some ketchup; but she wasn't inclined to complain at this point. They were eating their first hot meal in a while and she had a cup of tea to go with it all so she was actually feeling pretty good.

Even as she thought that, she felt that gnawing worry creep back to the forefront of her mind. The Colonel and Daniel were still out there somewhere and they had no idea how they were doing. Teal'c had tried the radio again; still without any luck. Deep as they were in the castle, Sam wasn't surprised that they didn't have any signal...add to that the massive storm outside and the chances of them getting through were very slim indeed. They also had no idea if they had even made it to the city at all. That had been their plan, Sam knew, but so many things could have happened to prevent them from making it to the city. She really didn't know how far away they had been when last they spoke. Looking over at the windows that were still lit with the non-stopped lightning, Sam could only pray they had made it to shelter.

* * *

><p>Daniel tried to rest, but with the pounding of his head and the never-ending spinning sensation, it was impossible for him to relax. Every single part of him ached and felt stiff and sore. Just moving his head to glance over at the fireplace had left him with the sensation that the entire world was spinning in three different directions...simultaneously. Add to that the sharp pain in his neck with the movement and it just wasn't a good situation. So he tried to remain perfectly still, knowing that was going to be just great should someone try to attack him. But it was about all he could do right at the moment. If he concentrated hard on his breathing, he could distract himself a little and not dwell on the misery. Of course, as he concentrated, he found his thoughts wandering.<p>

The most pressing thought on his mind was what on earth had happened. The spinning seemed to be taking all memories out of his brain. The last thing he could honestly remember had been watching _The Birds_ with Jack and knowing he had had _way_ too much alcohol. He could remember some of the details of Janet's party, but even that was vague. Forcing himself to focus, he remembered Teal'c had been Kel'no'reeming in the dining room, having quit the Hitchcock marathon after _The Man Who Knew Too Much_. Clearly, he had gone for a long time without meditation because otherwise it wasn't like the Jaffa to skip movie marathons. Daniel remembered that he and Jack had spent the night analyzing the movies and arguing back and forth about every topic under the sun. Of course, on second thought, maybe _that_ was why Teal'c had left. He didn't always seem to have a lot of patience when there was a lot of talking going on during a movie. Sam had stayed over at Janet's to have a girl's night with Janet and Cassie. Falling asleep on the floor with his face on a ½ empty popcorn bag was the absolute last coherent memory Daniel could come up with at the moment.

He forced himself to open his eyes again. Actually, not eyes, _eye_ to be more exact. He didn't have to lift his hand to feel his right eye to know that it was completely swollen shut. What had happened? Jack had mentioned something about a tornado. What had he meant by that? And where was he anyway? Daniel glanced briefly around the room; as far as he could glance without turning his head any further. The room was empty...and unfamiliar. So he wasn't home and he wasn't at Jack's. Huh. Which left...a mission. Had to be. So they must be off-world because it wasn't the infirmary and the way he hurt right now _he_ wouldn't even have argued about being in the infirmary. Something for the pain would be wonderful, but he wasn't sure he could tolerate anything even if he could find the pills.

A sudden crackle of his radio and Jack's voice interrupted his thoughts and sent his heart thudding with the surprise. "Daniel? You still there?"

Fumbling with his radio, Daniel finally managed to press the button. "Jack."

"Hey. Just testing the range. You ok?"

"Not really." Daniel said through gritted teeth. If the boat would stop rocking, he'd be doing much better, thank you. He really didn't want to puke again.

"What's up?"

"Head hurts."

"Yeah, I know. Nothing's happened since I left?"

Daniel pressed his hand to his head. How should _he_ know if anything had happened? He didn't remember Jack leaving. Or having been there. Or what was going on. He was so messed up.

"Daniel?" Jack sounded concerned.

"Here."

"Stay awake. I'm trying to hurry."

"Where are you?"

"Looking for water."

"Ok."

"I'll try to make it quick; I'm a little lost."

Ha. Daniel smiled. _Jack_ was a little lost. Jack didn't know the _meaning_ of the word lost. "So am I."

"Yeah, I know. Just hang in there; it'll get better."

_Yeah right_.

"Look, I'm going to be calling frequently to see how much reception we get. Don't be surprised."

"Uhhuh." Daniel muttered, letting the radio fall to his chest and closing his eyes in exhaustion.

* * *

><p>Jack had headed down the street trying to find his way back to the spring of water he had discovered earlier. He clearly had taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way because he was in a very different neighborhood. He seemed to be in the low-rent district now. Little tent-like shanties cluttered the narrow street. There was a distinctly unpleasant odor to the area as well. Jack was on the alert, aware he was in a perfect area to be ambushed. Of course, he hadn't seen anything that gave him any indication that there was even anyone alive in the area; but that didn't mean anything. He knew there could be any number of people hiding in the darkness observing him. Suddenly, he paused. What had he done with that little detector-thingy Carter had found? Grateful for his foresight, he realized he had long ago stowed it in his vest pocket. He'd left his pack in the little house, but at least he had what he needed right now. He pulled it out and glanced at it.<p>

Huh. One squiggly line. Him. Good. He kept it in his hand, grateful that at least for the moment he was alone. Now he had an estimate of the range of the device. It wasn't extremely far as he didn't see a squiggly line representing Daniel on the device. After his first radio check with Daniel, he felt better about the fact that their radios had _some_ reception. He didn't feel any better about having left him alone, though. Jack had the impression that Daniel had no idea whatsoever what was going on around him. Not a very safe situation. But he had no choice, so he just forced himself to hurry down the street a bit faster.

It had been growing darker as he had walked and he realized he had been getting deeper into the mountain. There were no windows to let in any light here so he was relying fully on the flashlight on his P90. He did have a smaller spare in a vest pocket should that go out, but he really, _really_ hoped it wasn't going to. The foul stench was growing more pronounced; not an encouraging thought. He could hear running water somewhere up ahead. Following the sounds, Jack rounded a cluster of shacks and found both the source of the running water and the source of the foul stench.

All along, they had been getting the indication that something bad had transpired on this world. There had been indications of upheaval and danger. Jack had just found what he believed represented this planet's equivalent of the Alamo...

* * *

><p>Sam and Teal'c discussed their plans while they ate. Sam actually was starting to feel a little better; not that she wanted to get her hopes up, but the food seemed to be reviving her somewhat. Teal'c had explained the rest of what he'd found on his trek. Of course, he stated, he had only taken a very preliminary and cursory exploration. He needed to make a more thorough search, but it had been a start. She looked at her watch. It was just after 1600 now.<p>

"I think we should probably keep looking." Sam said. "We're fairly secure right now, but we're still in an unknown environment and I don't want to assume we're safe. Also, we need to try to find a way to contact Colonel O'Neill."

"Agreed." Teal'c acknowledged. "I did not see any way to get to the area below the overlook. It seemed to be a dead end in the direction I went."

"Ok. So we look the other way." Sam nodded, "We came down the stairs and there were other directions we could have gone. Give that a try?"

Teal'c nodded. He felt the burning ache deep within him that told him he really needed to rest. _Soon._ But there was no time for it. It would just have to wait.

* * *

><p>Jack had seen plenty of carnage in his lifetime. His career choice had not been full of roses and joy. It had been full of death and destruction. Yet again, he faced the sorrowful results of war and the irrepressible results of mankind's inability to get along with one another for any length of time whatsoever. Apparently, this inability to live by the Golden Rule applied to alien cultures just as much as it did to Earth cultures.<p>

He just stood there for a moment. It was not a pretty sight to behold, but he just couldn't help but take a moment to take it all in. No wonder there was a significant odor to the area. There were bodies everywhere. At least one hundred was his estimate. A battle had been fought here and many, many people had paid the ultimate price. The scene was disturbing enough had it just been the carnage and bodies. Add to that the disturbing fact that the carnage and bodies seemed to be rather recent... No, it hadn't just happened in the last few days, or the last few weeks even, but it sure had happened recently. Jack had learned over the years how to estimate how long bodies had been lying around. He wasn't a medical examiner by any means, but he had a feeling the bodies had been alive and well a month or so ago.

A creepy feeling started tracing its way up his spine and to his neck. That old feeling of being watched was back with a vengeance. Quickly checking the device in his hand, Jack found himself to be the only squiggly line still. That was encouraging. He looked around again, hunting for any signs of explanation for the mess in front of him. Stepping around a body, he realized that several of the bodies bore staff weapon wounds. The front line bodies were all men; soldiers of some sort. They were human and actually dressed very similar to Tormic and the people of Kamyen Obyet. The further back he walked, the more women and young people he started finding. At the farthest corner of the area, to one side of the small river, he found a cubby that had apparently been the people's last stand. There were elderly and very young secluded there. All dead.

Jack's stomach turned at the sight and he didn't go any closer. He turned back to gaze over the area from another perspective. Whatever had happened here had not been good. Additionally, there was no evidence that these people had died of staff weapon shots. The more he looked, the more he realized that the majority of the bodies appeared without wounds of any sort. But they were dead all the same. Turning back to the stream, Jack found himself wondering if the water was safe to drink. They had some water purification tablets, of course, but the bottom line was they were desperate and had no choice. So he filled up the canteens.

His eyes roving the area even as he filled the canteens, Jack was at a loss to explain what had happened. Standing back up, he turned around and started to head back when he saw one man, over in a corner, his cold dead hands clutching a square object. Heading over, Jack found the man to be a Jaffa warrior. He had a staff weapon at his side. So he'd been the one doing the shooting? Jack was about to investigate the object when he realized enough time had passed, and he'd come far enough that he really needed to try the radio again.

"Daniel, come in." Silence. "Daniel."

Jack frowned. Could be he'd just gone too far and lost reception. Or it could be something else. Either way, he didn't like it. He tried again, then decided to take a quick look at the object in the Jaffa's hand and then head back. A quick examination revealed that the object had been some sort of chemical weapon. At least that was his best guess. There was a small crystalline vial inside that had been opened. He really had no idea of the mechanisms of action, but it looked like there was some sort of a propellant in the box that must have spread the poison or whatever all around the area. Feeling his concern rocket up again, Jack didn't touch and just backed away. He paused and grabbed the staff weapon, holding his breath inadvertently. As if that would help. As he moved back, a hypothesis for what had happened entered his mind. From the evidence before him, he had a feeling that the Jaffa had been attacking the people and they had been closet to overpowering him when he unleashed his secret weapon on them and killed everyone in the vicinity.

He didn't have any hypothesis yet as to the who, what, and why of the situation, but that seemed to be a likely explanation of the _how._ Jack turned and started to head back. He had other issues to deal with right now. He hit the radio again, "Daniel."

After a few seconds, he got a mumbled response that he interpreted to be his name. Jack hit the button, "Daniel, do you read?"

"Yes."

"Look, I'm headed back."

"Ok."

"I'll be about ten minutes or so."

"Ok."

Jack didn't get anything after that. He had a strong feeling that Daniel was just being polite. He didn't sound like he had a clue what they were talking about. Oh well. He was on his way back now. It wouldn't take him very long to get back now that he knew his way.

Or so he very optimistically thought mere seconds before he heard an extremely loud crashing sound off to his left. The sudden sound was so startling in the silence that he actually jumped a little. Backing up against a nearby wall, he flicked off his light and froze. For a moment, he didn't see or hear anything else. Trying to slow his pounding heart, Jack couldn't quite find a way to rationalize away the commotion. It wasn't just a pile of garbage falling over in a dark corner; he was sure of that. Something very alive and very real had made that sound. Eyes flicking back and forth, he didn't see anything moving. Yet. He spared a glance down at the device and felt his heart drop. He wasn't the only squiggly line in the near vicinity anymore.

There were now nine other squiggly lines...

* * *

><p>Sam glanced over at Tormic who had paused in front of a wall. She looked up at the wall and found a gorgeous decorative floral and geometric design pattern painted across it. Amongst the floral decor, there was clearly a form of writing interspersed across the wall. She couldn't make anything out of it. It looked vaguely familiar, but not familiar enough for her tired mind to figure it out. Tormic seemed engrossed though. She stepped closer and got his attention. She pointed at him and then up at the wall.<p>

"Can you understand this?" She asked, just to say it. She hoped he'd get the picture.

He looked at her and instantly shrugged and cocked his head to one side, curiosity written on his face.

Teal'c rejoined them and said something in Goa'uld. Tormic shook his head. Teal'c glanced at the wall and then at her. "I asked if he was able to read it."

Sam nodded, "I guess not. Too bad."

They started again, Sam and Tormic bringing up the rear. They hadn't felt comfortable splitting up at this point. Tormic had come along without any hesitation. Sam didn't blame him. She wouldn't have wanted to have been left alone either. So far they hadn't found anything dangerous; or anything helpful for that matter. Just several more corridors with various rooms in them. Some of the rooms had been small homes, others had been little shops. Apparently this had been quite a bustling neighborhood at one point. Everything was completely deserted though. By now, they had been exploring long enough that Sam was feeling exhaustion creep back up on her. Teal'c didn't look good at all, either. She was just about to suggest that they head back when they heard a sudden sound ahead of them.

They all froze. It had been a mechanical sound, almost like a sliding door opening at a supermarket. From where they stood, they couldn't see anything, but there was a curve to the corridor ahead of them. Teal'c met her eyes and then slid into a more defensive position. Sam pointed Tormic to an alcove behind them down the hallway. He slunk off silently. She nodded and turned back with Teal'c. They didn't have a lot of cover where they stood. Teal'c didn't seem to be inclined to wait, though, and was already cautiously moving forward, zat at the ready. Sam followed a few feet back. They didn't hear anything for a moment as they drew nearer to the curve in the hallway. Then they heard something.

What they heard was a very familiar "_What the heck?"_ muttered in confusion by a very familiar voice.

Sam's face broke into a smile. Teal'c relaxed and proceeded around the corner with a bit more confidence. Once around the corner, they were confronted by the business end of a P90. Jack lowered it once he caught sight of them, relief written all over his face. Sam felt her heart thud with excitement. He was safe, he was alive. He looked kind of awful. She stepped closer and analyzed him carefully for a few seconds. There was blood on his torn pant leg; he looked pale and ill, with a weariness etched into his features making him look much older than he was. Even though her joy at seeing him had her grinning like an idiot, she realized he was alone.

"Sir! It's great to see you."

"Yeah, you too, Carter, Teal'c." He acknowledged with a tired, but sincere smile. He nodded to Tormic who was peeking around the corner, then looked his team up and down. "Good to see you both up and around." He handed Teal'c the staff weapon. "You didn't look good at all last time I saw you, T."

"I am much recovered."

Sam didn't believe him and she knew the Colonel didn't either. They all needed to get some rest. Addressing her other main concern of the moment, she asked, "Where's Daniel?"

Jack's expression darkened to a frown. "He's back near the entrance to the city. We made it in and found a house to hole up in. He's not doing so great. I left him there and was looking for water. Along the way, I ran into some issues and ended up...here. Wherever here is." He glanced around briefly. "Where is here? You guys find a secure area?"

"We think so." Sam said, "We're in a very upper level of the city. We came by Glider and barely landed safely thanks to the storm."

"Ok. Well we need to go back for him now. Something was down there."

Sam frowned, "Something?"

"I was on my back to him after I got some water. That's when this baby lit up." He waved the device. "Suddenly there were ten of us."

"Us?"

"Ten squiggly lines instead of just me. I was trying to figure out who, or what, they were when I backed into this little closet to lay low and get a glimpse. All of a sudden here I was." Jack waved his hand. "Don't have a clue what happened."

Sam peered beyond him to the little alcove he indicated. Teal'c nodded. "I have seen this type of closet in another area here before, O'Neill. It served no apparent function."

"Well, apparently it's the magic wardrobe because I'm sure not where I started."

"Ok, so how do we get back to where you started?" Sam asked, stepping inside. There was some sort of a design or map on the back wall. "Look here, sir." Sam said. "It looks like some sort of a map. Does any of it look familiar?"

Jack joined her and glanced at the picture. It wasn't much as far as maps went. Jack was unimpressed. He couldn't make sense of it. Sam was waiting on him for an intelligent answer. He had no idea. "Nothing looks familiar, Carter."

"OK. Did you touch anything?" Sam asked, going into problem-solving mode as she stared at the map.

"No. I just walked in and all of a sudden the doors slammed shut and next thing I knew...here I was...am."

Sam sighed. There were several dots scattered across the map and Sam could only guess that they were destinations. The Colonel was vibrating with tension. He hadn't elaborated, but Sam knew for certain that Daniel must have been in serious condition if the Colonel had left him alone in an unsecured place when he wasn't doing well. So there was additional pressure on her to figure out the equipment. She was dying to ask what had happened to them, but she needed to focus on the pressing needs and get them back.

"We were downstairs near an entrance to the city." Jack said wearily, trying to come up with something to help. "There was a river..."

Sam studied the picture again. It wasn't exactly clear but she finally picked a dot that was located near a long winding line that she decided to guess was the river. She looked over at the colonel and Teal'c. "Sir, this is my best guess."

He nodded. "Works for me, Carter. We can always try another if it isn't the right one." He really didn't like the delay in getting back to Daniel. "We just need to be ready for a hostile encounter. I didn't get any glimpse of who was moving around down there so we don't know what we could be walking into."

Sam nodded. The last thing any of them needed was a hostile encounter. Teal'c, the rock and muscle of the organization, looked like he was actually swaying on his feet. That was not encouraging. They didn't speak, but piled into the tiny area. Sam theorized in her head that it was some sort of elevator; or whatever passed for an elevator on this planet. Tormic followed when Teal'c indicated he should come along. Sam touched the dot they were hoping was the correct one and a split second later the door opened. No one had been particularly expecting the ride to be quite so short, except for Jack. He had his gun at the ready and was looking at the device again. He saw four squiggly lines in the near vicinity, them, and could see three more off to the far right edge of the screen.

"We've got three bogies at 1 o'clock." He said softly. "I don't see the rest. Carter, you and Tormic stay here. Hold this position. Teal'c, with me."

Sam nodded and motioned for Tormic to stay in the alcove. She stood at the door, pulling out her own device to monitor for anything that might approach.

"Radios work to a certain extent." Jack said, "We'll try to keep in contact."

"Yes, sir. Be careful."

He nodded and led Teal'c back to the crowded city streets he had walked earlier. He was watching the device carefully as they walked. The three lines seemed to be going the opposite direction, which was good. It wasn't long till the two lines representing Sam and Tormic disappeared. He did a quick radio check. Satisfied they still had reception, he focused again on where they were going. His eyes were starting to play tricks on him. He felt a spreading warmth all over and had a bad feeling he was running a fever again. A rapid glance at Teal'c didn't fill him with confidence. They really needed to catch a break. _Soon._

"O'Neill." Teal'c's deep voice broke into his thoughts. "There is something ahead."

Jack glanced at the device and saw four squiggly lines rapidly moving toward them. Teal'c led them into one of the rickety shacks. Not a moment too soon, either. Just after they had slid into the darkness of the shack, two great white beasts came around the corner. Jack felt his gut clench. _Sha_. Just what they didn't need. The two passed on down the street at a quick pace; seeming not to notice them at all. Jack breathed a pinch easier, then held his breath again as the other two came barreling down the street. They veered off in another direction as well. Risking using his radio, Jack called Carter and let her know what to expect. Then he looked back outside again. The street was clear and the device didn't indicate anything else coming toward them. They still had a ways to go before they made it back to the entrance of the city. Jack hit his radio again.

"Daniel?" He waited a second, and tried again. "Daniel, do you copy?" No response. Not good. He stepped out of the shack and they hurried down the street. Well, _hurry_ might have been an optimistic way of stating it. Neither of them was moving very quickly at all. He was struggling to find his way now. The sheer exhaustion was rapidly overwhelming him and the dark, crowded streets weren't exactly helping him find his way back. Shaking his head, he forced himself to pick up the pace. They needed to get away from here as soon as possible. The last thing they needed was to have to do battle with the _Sha_ again. They'd barely survived the last encounter. Finally, they were back in the main courtyard and Jack could see the small house where he'd left Daniel.

That was the good news.

The bad news was that there were two _Sha_ circling the house…

* * *

><p>Daniel had been startled awake by a raucous noise from…somewhere. He didn't quite have the strength necessary to open his eyes or even come to full consciousness yet. Everything was fuzzy and confusing. He also had the unhappy sensation that he was being spun on a tilt-a-whirl. The sensation of spinning was overwhelming and wasn't helping his efforts to bring his thoughts into some semblance of order. There was the noise again. A terrific tumbling and bumping sound, like objects being knocked around. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter and wished that whoever was doing it would just quit already. His head hurt too much for this nonsense. Just as that noise backed off, he found his tenuous grasps at consciousness again interrupted by another startling noise. This one was a lot closer and sounded awfully familiar.<p>

"Daniel?" There was a pause. "Daniel, do you copy?"

Well, like it or not, he had copied. But at the moment the thought of actually answering back was more than he could handle. So he just laid there trying not to throw up. He couldn't figure out why Jack would be calling him like that. Where was he anyway? To figure that out, he'd have to open his eyes and he really did not want to do that. Even as he tried to contemplate why he felt like utter crap, he heard more noises from outside. This time he heard a staff blast. His mind was completely and utterly confused but he knew the sound of a staff weapon when he heard one. Which instantly clued him in that he must be on a mission. And something bad was happening. Another blast, the sound of a terrible animal scream and the sound of a P90 firing motivated him to open his eyes. Well that was uninformative. He couldn't see much at all. What he could see was blurry and tinged with a disturbing grey. Everything was also spinning at near light speed; he was sure of it. Only the sounds of a continuing battle outside could motivate him to even attempt to move. He had no clue what was going on, but clearly someone was in trouble…or he was going to be in trouble very soon.

He pulled himself to his side, breaking out in a sweat with the effort, the nausea and the pain the movement caused. The radio fell off his chest and hit the floor. He realized that he had his Beretta in his hand and had been unconsciously gripping it. Good. From the sounds of it, he was going to need it. Lying on his side for what seemed like an hour, Daniel felt no relief whatsoever. He forced himself to fight through it. The shots were close and the animal noises were getting closer and louder. Attempting to roll over into a sitting position, Daniel suddenly found himself on the floor on his hands and knees. He couldn't muffle an inadvertent moan as every muscle in his entire body screamed at him. The dim grey took on a darker shade as the world started spinning faster and in twenty different directions. There wasn't anything left in his stomach to throw up or he'd have had a mess in front of him. It felt like his chest was being skewered by spears and then ripped apart. He managed to keep his left hand on the edge of the bed as he retched; his right arm was braced against his chest. Passing out had never seemed like such a phenomenal idea. But before he could follow through on that fine idea, there was a terrific ruckus at the door. He raised his right arm and pointed the Beretta in the general direction of the door as it opened. Daniel figured he had about ten seconds to try to hit something before the blackness was going to take away all of his troubles…


	23. Chapter 23

Teal'c's shot downed the second _Sha _and sent it careening through the doorway. They had flanked the two creatures and brought down the first rather quickly as it had already been injured at some point and was in a weakened state. The second one had been more difficult to kill. It had taken the last of Jack's rounds and several blasts from Teal'c's weapon before the beast finally collapsed. Jack didn't like that it ended up breaking down the door; but he was grateful it was dead when it went through the door. He and Teal'c stepped around the corners of the building and were about to head inside when they both heard the report of the Beretta firing. Jack sidled up to the doorway, peering around cautiously. He was somewhat shocked to see Daniel on his knees, swaying, one hand on the bed to hold him up and his right hand shaking badly and holding the Beretta. Clearly he had just plugged the Sha with a few shots.

Jack called out, "Daniel, it's us. Don't shoot, OK?" He wasn't taking any chances and it turned out he had been wise to take the precaution. Several more shots rang out a split second after he had spoken. "Daniel! It's me and Teal'c." He wasn't sure how many rounds Daniel had left and he had a strong feeling that Daniel wasn't completely with it. He really didn't want to get shot. "Daniel, don't shoot me, ok?"

Easing around the door, Jack tried to keep back enough that he wouldn't end up getting shot. Jack knew that, even in as bad shape as he was in, Daniel still could probably hit him. So, as he eased around the door, he called out again, "Daniel?"

"Jack?"

Jack stepped inside, relieved to have heard at least that one hoarse whisper, and feeling a bit more confident that Daniel wasn't going to shoot him. "Yeah, Daniel it's me. How're you doing?" He asked, slipping past the dead_Sha_. Daniel didn't respond and appeared about to collapse. Remaining cautious, as the Beretta was still wavering in the air, Jack said conversationally, "We've been doing a bit of hunting. Found Carter and Teal'c, by the way."

He still didn't get a reply, but Daniel's arm dropped and Jack barely made it in time to catch Daniel before he fell face first to the ground. Daniel's head smacked Jack's shoulder as he fell forward and Jack almost lost his balance. Maneuvering dead weight wasn't easy, and it wasn't exactly the most gentle way of doing it, but Jack managed to push Daniel over against the bed, easing his head back against the mattress. Daniel was completely unresisting, his breathing coming in shallow quick gasps. His pulse was racing, Jack found, and he was soaked with sweat. His left eye was half-open, unfocused and bloodshot. The bruising and swelling to his face looked horrendous, but at least the gash to his forehead hadn't started bleeding again. Keeping his hand on Daniel's shoulder, Jack pocketed the Beretta and glanced over his shoulder to find Teal'c already gathering their packs.

Jack hit his radio, "Carter."

"Sir?"

"We just took out two _Sha_. We've got Daniel and we're going to head back. You ok?"

"Yes, sir. It's been quiet here. Nothing on the radar."

"Good. Keep it that way."

"Yes sir. Be careful."

"Copy that, Carter." Jack felt Daniel's hand on his arm. He glanced at his bruised face and forced a smile, "Hey."

Daniel took a shaky breath and whispered, "Sam?"

"Yeah. She and Teal'c found a place with a view."

His humor was lost on Daniel. Jack watched his eye slide shut, and then glanced over at Teal'c. The Jaffa had efficiently packed the few items Jack had left out, and wordlessly fastened one pack to Jack's vest, slinging the other over his arm. Kneeling opposite Jack, Teal'c glanced quickly at Daniel. "He does not look well, O'Neill."

"Nope." Jack agreed totally. Daniel had completely faded out and didn't look like he was going to be able to move. Hating to do it, Jack knew they didn't have any choice or any time to waste. "Let's get him up."

It was a struggle, but they finally managed to get him to his feet. His breaths were harsh in Jack's ear, and he stumbled along with their support as they crossed the room. Jack was extremely grateful he was able to move at least that well; the way Teal'c looked and the way he himself felt, dragging him would have been next to impossible. They struggled out the door and found the area still deserted. Jack just hoped it was going to stay that way. He had no rounds left. Teal'c at least had the staff weapon now. Since that seemed to be the only thing that worked against the _Sha_; Jack knew it was a good thing that he had found one.

They were moving painfully slowly, but at least they knew the way this time. Jack had a couple dozen questions he needed to ask Teal'c. Unfortunately, he was a bit too focused on keeping himself and Daniel from falling down at the moment. Teal'c was lending a hand, but he was also aware he was really their first line of defense. He had the staff at the ready and Jack was grateful that Teal'c was paying even more attention to their surroundings. He was having trouble thinking over the sound of Daniel's harsh breathing and pained moans. They hadn't even made it close to half way and he could barely put one foot in front of the other. Jack adjusted his grip as he stumbled.

"Daniel, a bit further." He said softly, "Hang in there."

A few minutes more and the silence was shattered by the sound of an animal growling. Jack swore in his head; he was too short of breath by now to actually speak aloud. Teal'c pushed them into a darkened doorway in a flimsy shack. Jack hated to stop moving. Already he felt Daniel slipping toward the floor. It had been sheer determination that had been keeping him moving up to this point. Any hesitation and he'd be done. Teal'c was already slinking ahead. Jack tried to get an idea of what was in the room and if there was any defensible place to try to go. It didn't look promising.

A split second later and Teal'c was back. "O'Neill. Major Carter is approximately fifty yards to the left, up and around the corner. The beasts seem to be over toward the opposite direction. You must go and I will attempt to provide cover."

Jack didn't like it. Hated it in fact. But he had no choice. He nodded and Teal'c was out the door again. Jack dragged Daniel out after him and set his sights on the corner. He wanted to give Carter a call to let her know what to expect, but he couldn't risk releasing his grip on Daniel. So he just kept moving. Gritting his teeth, he made it to the corner. Just as they rounded the corner, he heard more growls and the sound of the staff weapon firing. Sounds like that would normally have motivated him to move faster. Today, he had no ability whatsoever to move faster. He didn't have much left to give. As the sounds of the battle continued behind him, he glanced up ahead.

He felt his spirits lift incredibly as he saw Carter's blonde hair ahead. She had just peered around the doorway and caught sight of him. She took off at a run toward him. Jack was thankful that she was coming. He was out of ammo and out of strength. She met him a moment later, her eyes wide and frightened. Thankfully, she didn't waste any time but assessed the situation in a split second. She flew to Daniel's right side, tucking herself under his arm and wrapping her arms around his waist. They didn't speak, but ran as fast as they could to where Tormic was hovering outside the door to the transporter. He looked pale and terrified, one hand pointing somewhere behind them. Jack did _not _want to think about what he might be pointing at down the corridor. Of course, he already knew. The sounds of the battle were drawing closer. The only good news was that he could still hear the staff weapon, so Teal'c was still alive.

Tormic stepped out, shouting incomprehensibly at them. Jack knew enough Russian to get the gist of what the man was shouting. Of course, he could have been speaking Tagalog and he would still have known what he meant. At this moment, hurrying was an excellent idea in any _known_ language, and most of the unknown ones as well. Those last few yards were agony, his breath burning as it whooshed in and out of his throat. His leg was weak and hurting badly. He was stumbling as much as Daniel was at this point. Reaching the doorway, they fell into it. Jack couldn't completely slow their fall and Daniel ended up falling over against Sam. Jack pulled him away and eased him to the floor. The second he was on the ground, Jack forced himself to his feet.

"Carter." He forced out breathlessly, pulling Daniel's Beretta out of his pocket, "P90."

To her credit, she didn't argue but simply traded weapons with him. He pushed past Tormic and headed out to join Teal'c. There was one _Sha_ running toward him and he immediately started firing. He couldn't see Teal'c. The monster was struggling against the onslaught of his attack and, surprisingly, veered off down a side street. Jack was momentarily relieved until he saw Teal'c rounding a corner. Teal'c rounding the corner was fine...what _wasn't_ so fine was the _Sha_ that sprang out of nowhere and cut him off. Teal'c was far enough back that he managed to get his staff up and fire at the beast before it could attack him.

Jack ran to assist. The monstrous beast yelped in frustration as it was hit by blow after blow. After a moment, it too turned tail and ran down the street. They didn't hesitate or waste a precious second of their reprieve. Jack turned and ran; with Teal'c setting the pace they made excellent time. Sam was hovering in the doorway when they approached. Jack's feeling of relief faded again when he saw the look on her face.

"Run!" was all she yelled as she stepped out. Jack heard the pounding of heavy footfalls behind them. Apparently, the monsters had decided to try again. They weren't too far now...

Sam had a grenade in her hand. She waved it frantically, then let it fly just a moment before Jack and Teal'c dove into the alcove. Jack fell against Tormic, who was kind enough to catch him and hold him up. Turning to the door, Jack saw Carter dive inside and slam her hand against the map. There was a terrific flash of light and the sound of an explosion...and the door slid shut.

* * *

><p>A split second after the door slid shut, it slid open again. Jack knew it wouldn't take long to transport or teleport or whatever, but it was still a shock and he brought up his P90 at the same instant Teal'c raised his staff. The hall ahead was empty and looked like the same place he'd met up with Carter and Teal'c. He felt his legs slide out from under him and Tormic caught him and managed to help ease him to sit on the ground. Jack gave the man a nod of thanks, which Tormic returned with a smile. Jack leaned on his right arm and stretched out to check Daniel. The pulse beneath his fingertips was weak and rapid, but it was still there. Jack suddenly found himself sliding the rest of the way to the floor.<p>

"Sir!" Carter exclaimed, watching him from Daniel's other side.

"I'm ok, Carter." He said hoarsely, still trying to catch his breath. He wasn't really ok, but that wasn't the point. "Just need a minute."

Carter didn't look like she believed him one tiny bit, but she immediately turned her attention to Daniel. Jack rolled his head over and thought that made a lot of sense. Pulse or not, the man looked close to dead. Carter looked scared as she looked back at Jack. She had a hand to Daniel's carotid and asked, "Sir, what happened?"

"Hit his head."

"When?"

Jack rubbed his eyes. "Morning."

Teal'c interrupted their conversation, "We should leave this place."

Everyone looked at him and Jack felt his stomach do another flip-flop at the Jaffa's appearance. He was standing up in the doorway, actually shaking. That was very bad. They did need to leave this place and find a safe area to collapse in...and soon. Teal'c looked awful; Carter was trying her darnedest to look like she felt ok. Tormic was looking like the last man standing at this point. Jack asked, "You guys have a safe place to go?"

Carter coughed and then said, "We were in an open area. But just before we met up with you, we had passed something like an apartment complex. I poked around in one. There were several bunks, a small kitchen and a bathroom."

Jack rolled his head around to get another look at the shambles of his team. "Secure?"

"Had a heavy door."

"How far?"

"Just around the corner, sir."

"Sounds like home, Carter." He started to force himself upright and accepted Tormic's hand. "Because I don't think we're going to make it much further than that."  
>"Yes, sir." She nodded, "Sir, Daniel's completely out."<p>

Jack looked at Tormic. "Tormic and I can get him. You and Teal'c go on ahead and check us into the luxury suite. I want a mint on my pillow, Carter."

She cracked a small smile. "Yes, sir."

"Mint." He shook a finger at her.

Tormic helped get Teal'c to his feet and Carter grabbed his arm to help steady him. They headed off and Jack looked at Tormic who was hovering patiently. Jack waved him over and pointed at Daniel. "Give me a hand, eh Tormic?"

The man nodded and quickly assisted Jack in dragging Daniel upright. He was complete dead weight and his head fell limply against Jack's shoulder, but they managed to drag him out into the hallway. Five minutes of struggle later, and they saw Carter step out of a doorway. She jogged over to take the P90 back from Jack. "Teal'c's trying to Kel'no'reem, sir."

"Not surprised." Jack grunted.

He followed her through a doorway into a fairly good-sized room. There was a cheery glow coming from an element in the walls. It looked similar to the little heater they'd found in the Jaffa's hideaway out in the woods, except it was inlaid in a recess that ran around the entire room. The room was still chilly, so clearly it hadn't had enough time to warm things up yet. The room reminded Jack of pictures of ocean liner cabins. It was neat, tidy, and compact. There were two sets of bunk beds against opposite walls. The little kitchen was in the front of the room and another nice, comfortable looking alien couch sat opposite the kitchen. There was also one armchair and a small table. To the rear of the room, Jack saw a closet and another door he assumed led to the bathroom. Teal'c was leaned back against the wall in the back corner, his staff weapon next to him.

"Sir, over here." Carter motioned him to a bottom bunk. She yanked back the blanket on the bunk.

Jack felt bad for having ever doubted Tormic. If it hadn't been for him, they'd never have made it. They dragged Daniel the rest of the way and eased him onto the bunk. Jack nearly found himself on the floor as his leg, and endurance, abruptly gave out on him. Carter grabbed his right arm and helped hold him upright. Tormic made Daniel as comfortable as possible on the bunk. Jack watched with dimming vision. After a moment, he realized he was stretched out on the other bunk with no idea of how he'd ended up there. Blinking slowly, he was peripherally aware of Carter and Tormic engaged in a challenging game of charades. Jack had no idea what they were up to, nor did he care. He trusted Carter and figured whatever she was up to would be just fine with him...

* * *

><p>The minute Sam saw Jack, she had known he wasn't doing well at all. Now, after he had nearly hit the floor, and she and Tormic had dragged him to the other bunk, Sam was even more concerned. The number of times she had seen him collapse could be counted on one hand. Standing there for a moment, Sam felt just the briefest flash of desperation and sheer discouragement. She was exhausted and ill. But she quickly dismissed those feelings when she glanced around the room at the rest of the team. Her mind went into problem solving mode and she looked at Tormic who was standing by, apparently waiting on her orders.<p>

Some of their supplies and the food they had gathered was still out in the other room. She pulled out a wrapper from something she'd eaten earlier and waved it at Tormic. Sam hadn't been overly good at Charades, but Tormic was pretty good at working with her limited repertoire. He nodded enthusiastically and headed for the door. Sam sighed with relief. She had no option but to trust him. Turning back to the room, Sam tried to figure out where to start. Dropping her pack and gun seemed like a great first place. She coughed into her sleeve as she dropped them next to the table.

"Carter?"

Sam turned back to look at the Colonel. He didn't look in the slightest better, but he was alert so she considered that a positive. "Yes, sir?"  
>He motioned to her so she crouched down next to the bunk. He said with a total straight face, "Where's my mint?"<p>

Sam couldn't stop herself from laughing. It was so unexpected, such an inappropriate time for jokes and so totally him. She snickered until she started coughing again.

"Sorry, Sam. You ok?"

She caught her breath and nodded, "Just great, sir. You?"

"Oh yeah." He grimaced as he tried to sit up.

Sam pushed him down. "Stay put, sir."

"You're giving the orders these days?"

"Whoever is vertical gets to give the orders these days." Sam said smartly. "You look like crap and you need to rest. I'm ok for now. Tormic went for the rest of our supplies."

Jack didn't have the strength to argue with her or take offense at her bossiness. He just nodded and asked, "Teal'c and Daniel?

"Teal'c seems stable. Of course it's hard to tell with him." Sam said. She sat back on her heels and looked over at Daniel. "Daniel's still unconscious. He doesn't look good, sir."

Jack rolled his head and glanced across to the other bunk. "He's been through the wringer. We were trying to get to the castle when the storm hit." He briefly told her all that had happened since they'd left the shelter in the woods earlier that morning. "He's been in and out, but has some severe short-term memory loss. He's also been throwing up."

Sam nodded, "I can give him something for the nausea when he wakes up. I don't think there's really anything I can do for him right now though."

"He just needs to rest and not get dragged around anymore." Jack agreed.

She considered him closely, "You could probably do with some pain killers, though."

"I'd rather have that than a mint at this point."

"Good. I have Vicodin but no mints." Sam smiled, reaching for her bag.

"What happened to you guys?" Jack asked softly.

Sam gave him her side of the story while she got him some water and pills. Tormic returned during her discussion and set down the boxes of food and the rest of their supplies. He slid the door shut and bolted it. Sam looked up and thanked him. He nodded at her and sat down tentatively on the chair. There was a moment of silence, then Jack touched her arm.

"Sam, get some sleep. We're not moving from this spot for the near future. None of us are in any shape to keep up this pace." He was already finding it difficult to keep his eyes open.

Nodding, Sam said, "Yes, sir." She watched his eyes slide shut without any further hesitation. She dropped to her butt next to the bunk, leaning back against it. She decided it would be a great idea to just sit still for a few minutes. The next disaster would just have to happen without their participation.


	24. Chapter 24

Jack sighed and rubbed his hand. He rolled his neck and repositioned his leg on the arm of the couch, checking his watch. Just after 0800. It had been a long night. Tormic suddenly grunted in his sleep and rolled over on one of the top bunks. Jack sat up a bit more and took a quick glance at his team. Sam was still curled up on her side on the bunk he'd slept in earlier. He'd woken up around 0330 and sent her to bed at that time. He hadn't meant at all to sleep that long and he hated himself for leaving her the responsibility of watching out for all of them while they slept. He'd been so out of it that he simply hadn't been able to fight the pull of exhaustion any more. But she was still extremely ill and needed to sleep as much as any of them. She actually hadn't argued with him when he'd ordered her to sleep and she'd been sleeping soundly ever since. Tormic had fallen asleep sometime after he had and Teal'c hadn't stirred or moved a muscle all night as far as he knew. Neither had Daniel. Which meant that Jack was at least only seriously worrying about two members of his team, rather than all three.

Sighing, Jack pushed himself to a sitting position. Everything hurt. Even so, he _was_ feeling better than the night before. The solid ten hours of sleep had done wonders. He reached for his canteen and took a drink, assessing their current situation. Right now, everyone was getting some much needed sleep and rest. They were set up fairly securely and actually pretty comfortably, as accommodations went. He couldn't complain. But they couldn't stay there indefinitely. They'd been on the planet for about eight days now, if he was calculating correctly. It was hard to keep everything straight. He could only imagine what General Hammond must be thinking. He must have sent a team to look for them. Long ago. They would have been overdue that first evening. But what would they have run into? The Kamyen Obyet probably would not have been very welcoming to the team. What would they have said to explain SG1's disappearance? The SGC couldn't continue to send rescue teams out if they were getting stonewalled. So had they already been reported MIA?

His mind started reeling again. There were far too many possibilities and none of them seemed like they could possibly be good. He returned to thoughts of their present situation. They were at the castle. Great. What now? They needed to do more reconnaissance with the ultimate goal of finding some way to get back. He thought about those blue crystals in Daniel's pack. They must have been important. So what did they go to? There was no way back through the portal. There had to be another way off of this planet. He sat forward and ran his hand through his hair. They had one Death Glider; one that even now might have been destroyed by the storm. They had no way of knowing if it would even be able to fly again. Great.  
>And it sure wasn't going to fit all of them. From what Carter had told him, it had been a tight squeeze with the three of them.<p>

_Crap._

Jack sat back again. He wanted to get a move on and start looking around. But he couldn't do that yet. He couldn't go on his own. He couldn't disturb anyone as they still needed the rest. So he had to wait. He hated waiting. Waiting was hard.

* * *

><p>"Sir, I'm not sure that this is a great idea." Sam's voice rang in his ear again.<p>

"Carter." Jack cut her off before she could run through the litany again. "We've been through this. We don't have a choice."

She stared him down; he could feel the tension radiating off her. "Sir, I realize we don't have a choice, but you and Teal'c are not..."

"It doesn't matter!" Jack cut her off again. She was going to be royally ticked with him. "We need answers. We can't find them here. We can't wait any longer. Teal'c and I have gotten enough rest. Look at him, he's practically glowing."

Oh yeah, that was a farce. Jack wished he'd stopped while he'd been ahead. Sam's eyes narrowed and her aggravation was palpable. Teal'c didn't look great at all. He was better and he was stable, but he certainly wasn't 100% yet. They'd all been up for a few hours now. After she'd woken up, the first thing Carter had wanted was a shower. So they'd all eaten a late brunch and traded off at the showers. With everyone feeling a bit more human and refreshed, Jack had decided it was time for them to get a move on and try to find a way home. Before Carter could raise another argument, Jack said softly, "Carter, we can't wait any longer. You and Daniel need a doctor."

Even if she wanted to try to convince him she was feeling fine, she had to admit Daniel at least needed to see Janet. She _did_ seem a lot better after sleeping for nine hours, but she was still coughing almost non-stopped and her lungs sounded like crap. She deflated slightly, glancing guiltily over her shoulder at Daniel. Looking back at the Colonel, Carter met his eyes and nodded slowly. Jack nodded. "I hate it too, Carter."

"I know."

"We'll stay in contact."

"I know."

Jack paused. The silence in the room was deafening. Carter had straightened up and was muffling a cough in her sleeve. Tormic was standing near the door, looking on apprehensively. Jack had decided the man might just be useful and had made the decision to bring him along. Of course, there was still that lingering, nagging distrust that he couldn't quite shake. So he hadn't been about to leave the man alone with Sam, who was barely up to anything and Daniel, who still hadn't regained consciousness. Teal'c was also standing there by the door with the staff weapon in his hand, waiting patiently. Jack looked at them briefly and then turned back to Carter. She was pale and not very happy, but resolute. He hated to leave her. He wanted to tell her everything was going to be fine. But he couldn't. He didn't know that everything was going to be fine. They were all feeling slightly apprehensive about splitting up again. They'd only just found each other. What difference would a few more hours make? They could rest for a bit longer and then head out for recon. Jack hesitated for a moment, then his eyes drifted back to Daniel. Shaking his head, he stepped close to Carter's side and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Sam." he said softly. "We'll be back soon."

She nodded slowly, looking up at him with discouraged, but nevertheless determined eyes.

"We'll stay in contact. Just try to relax while you can and keep an eye on him, ok?"

She nodded again.

Jack nodded, "Keep the home fires burning, Carter."

Turning, he waved his hand at Teal'c. The Jaffa slid the door open and led the way out.

* * *

><p>Sam slid the bolts shut behind them and sighed. She knew they had no choices but she still wasn't sure that the Colonel and Teal'c were up to a trek yet. They certainly looked better but neither of them exactly instilled her with great confidence. Of course, the Colonel was right. They <em>didn't <em>have any choice. She sighed again and walked back over to the bunks. She had pulled the chair over earlier so she could keep a closer eye on Daniel. She dropped back into it, glancing wearily at him. He hadn't shown any signs of waking up all night long. Listening to the Colonel explain how he'd been injured, and what they'd gone through _since_ he'd been injured, Sam couldn't say she was surprised that he was still unconscious. But it made her nervous. Head injuries were never to be taken lightly and he'd been through a lot of running around and stress since being injured. She rubbed his hand somberly. At least he seemed stable now. His breathing had eased and his pulse was a lot closer to normal than it had been the night before. Maybe he just needed a bit more time.

"Nineteen hours is a bit much, though, Daniel." She said softly. "You could wake up any time now. You don't have to go anywhere or do anything. Just give me a sign here, ok?"

Sam muffled a cough, then rested her head on the edge of the bunk.

* * *

><p>Teal'c had led O'Neill and Tormic in their exploration of the area. They had found nothing of value; at least nothing they could actually <em>prove <em>was of value. There was a lot of writing entwined in the decorative scroll-work on the walls, but the one who could decipher it wasn't exactly up to doing so. They had decided to skip the staircase that Teal'c had mentioned they had originally come through. Avoiding the transporter that had whisked them safely away from the _sha_ was also a plan. Although it could apparently take them other places, they decided instead to head back to the other "closet" that Teal'c had stumbled upon earlier and see where it took them. Stepping inside, Jack gazed at the image on the back wall; the "map," for lack of a better word. Again, he couldn't make heads or tails of it. With a shrug at Teal'c, he picked a dot at random and hoped for the best. A split second later, the door opened. Teal'c took point and quickly perused the hallway. No immediate threat presented itself, so he stepped out.

They glanced up and down the hallway. It was long and dark. That was about all there was to it. Jack shook his head. Had he really been expecting to find a Gate or a magic doorway back? He adjusted his grip on the P90 and followed Teal'c and Tormic as they headed off to the right. They had been walking in the darkness for several moments, their path lit only by their dimming flashlights. That was yet another issue Jack added to his list of problems. Their ability to explore was going to be severely limited once they had no lighting. Even as he considered this problem, they were startled by a sudden mechanical whirring.

Pressing up against the wall, Teal'c kept his attention focused ahead while Jack knelt down and looked behind them. Tormic slumped down and tried to make himself as small as possible between them. The whir stopped abruptly and suddenly the hallway was filled with flickering light. Glancing up warily, Jack noted there were sconces set in the wall at measured distances. The sconces each had a pale purple crystal set into them and the hall was now illuminated slightly. Jack glanced over his shoulder.

"Teal'c?" He asked softly.

"I see nothing, O'Neill."

"Ok." Jack saw nothing too. He straightened up. "So maybe it's automatic?"

"Perhaps." Teal'c was warily heading down the hall. There was no indication of danger, but neither of them were under the impression that that didn't mean danger wasn't out there.  
>Another fifteen minutes and they hadn't found anything except one room that Teal'c hypothesized had been the armory. The arms were all completely gone though, only the storage hooks and racks remained. That was unfortunate. They really could have used some additional weapons. Jack had the rest of Daniel's rounds with him for his P90, leaving Sam with whatever she had left. Which reminded him. They were pushing a half hour. Typically, he would never be insisting on such frequent check-ins, but this was not the typical situation. So he hit his radio.<p>

"Carter."

"Sir." She responded instantly.

"How goes it?"

"Quiet."

"Daniel?"

"No change."

Jack's jaw clenched. They were working on twenty hours now. "Let me know if he wakes up." _As if she wouldn't._

"Yes, sir. How are you guys?"

"Ok. Nothing yet. We'll check in again in thirty."

"Understood."

He joined up with Teal'c as he headed out of the armory, back into the hallway. "So, Teal'c. Any thoughts on this place?"

Teal'c inclined his head slightly. "I am uncertain, O'Neill. There was once a bustling society living here. A war would certainly explain much of what we have found."

"Right. It would explain why there's nothing left of this once bustling society." Jack agreed. He poked his head down another hallway. Dead end. "Pieces of all of this make sense. But pieces of it don't make sense. I sure wish you could talk to us." He clapped Tormic on the shoulder and received a curious smile. "There's something really strange about all of this."

"Indeed." Teal'c acknowledged, peering into a small room. Nothing but a few scattered pieces of furniture.

"You ever come across a civilization like this one?"

"I have not."

"Huh." Jack mumbled, tripping over something. He glanced down and saw a small dead creature. Looking more closely, he came to the conclusion that it was this world's version of a rat. Yeah, rats were about the same everywhere it seemed. He kicked it away and the realization struck him with renewed force that they could be facing anything. They hadn't seen any signs of life at all. But they had run into those two guys in the woods, Jack reminded himself. And they certainly had seen a lot of the animal life. The castle clearly wasn't safe from animal invasion.

Jack followed Teal'c up a small flight of stairs to a huge room at the end of the hall. It had the looks of a grand ballroom from his first glance. As they entered the magnificent archway into the room, he realized it wasn't a ballroom at all. It was something vaguely familiar. It nagged at him for all of two seconds before he remembered exactly why this grand room was so familiar. He'd been in a room just like it about five years ago. It wasn't exactly the same, but it was clearly _this _world's version. He glanced over at his companions. Tormic was staring goggle-eyed up at the towering walls. Each wall bore a long inscription in a different writing style. Teal'c took a sweeping look and met Jack's eyes.

"Is this not very similar to the room on the planet where we discovered Ernest Littlefield?"

Jack nodded slowly. "Oh yeah." He walked a bit further into the room and shook his head. "Merry Christmas, Daniel." He turned back just as Teal'c was about to say something. Jack cut him off. "Which reminds me. I've got a bone to pick with you."

Teal'c just inclined his head in that infuriatingly patient way he always did.

Jack shook a finger at him. "You told Daniel I got his Christmas present?"

"I may have mentioned it."

_Huh_. Teal'c being evasive. That was new. _Not._ Jack's eyes flicked to Tormic who was still lost in the wonder of the sight before him. He was wandering away to one of the walls. Jack looked back at Teal'c. "You weren't supposed to say anything."

"I revealed nothing that he did not already know."

"Uhhuh." Jack followed after Tormic. "Well keep it that way. And don't you _dare_ say anything to Carter about what we're getting _her_." It was actually a rather trying experience, he had found, trying to keep secrets from his teammates. Teal'c was easy. He was never curious and didn't pester him endlessly. Of course, Jack did have a sneaking suspicion the Jaffa somehow always knew what he got him. And he was, surprisingly enough, a habitual narc.

"Do you believe this place was created by the same people who built the structure on Professor Littlefield's planet?" Teal'c subtly changed the subject.

"Don't know. We never did figure out who exactly built that place." Jack said, exploring each corner of the room. There were piles and piles of books and odd objects. "We didn't exactly have time."

"No. It seems odd that both places were deserted."

"Well, clearly the four great races got distracted from seeking galaxy-wide enlightenment." Jack paused, leaning against a wall and taking the pressure off his leg for a bit. It was still sore, though much better. He looked up and down the room again and shrugged. "We're not going to figure any of this out. Let's keep going. We can bring Daniel up here when he's on his feet again."

Teal'c nodded slowly and turned away.

Jack had to tug on Tormic's arm several times to get the man to leave. He seemed engrossed in everything he saw. It was the first bit of spirit or interest Jack had seen out of him. Clearly, he was a man after Daniel's own heart. _Well they can just have a heyday together checking it all out later, _Jack thought. He had talked to Carter again not ten minutes ago and she still hadn't had any good news for him. _Come on, Daniel._With a sigh, Jack pushed Tormic back out into the hallway. There was still a whole city out there to explore.

* * *

><p>Sam woke with a start. She hadn't intended to fall asleep. Rubbing her eyes with her right hand, she glanced at her watch. 1420. Sighing, she pushed her head off the bunk and sat up. Her eyes automatically flicked to Daniel. Nothing. No change. She coughed into her sleeve and decided she should grab some water. About to stand up, she was surprised to find her hand anchored by a very strong grip. Sam scooted forward and watched Daniel's face for any signs of awareness.<p>

"Daniel?" She asked softly, squeezing his hand. She got a squeeze back in response and she almost cried.

"Sam?" His whisper was almost inaudible.

"Yeah, Daniel, it's me." Sam felt a tear trace its way down her face. She scrubbed it away quickly and ran her free hand gently through his hair. "How are you doing?"

He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned. His grip on her hand didn't relax. "Sam."

"Daniel?"

"Hurts."

"I know. You hit your head."

"What happened?"

Sam shook her head. "What hasn't?"

"Where?"

"We're off-world." She gave him as brief a synopsis as she could. "Daniel, do you think you can drink some water?" According to the Colonel, he hadn't had anything since yesterday morning. Well over thirty hours now. "You're really dehydrated."

She waited for a response. Frowning, she gave his hand a gentle shake. "Daniel, you still with me?"

"Sam?"

"Yeah."

"I don't think I want to be awake."

From his expression and death grip on her hand, she knew he was hurting badly. She rubbed his hand. "I know, Daniel. I can give you something for the pain."

"Please."

"Ok. I have to get my pack." She tried to extricate her hand from his grip.

"You'll come back?"

"Of course. It will only take me a minute."

His hand relaxed and she didn't waste a second but grabbed her pack and canteen and rushed back. She touched his hand. "I'm back. Can you open your eyes, Daniel?"

"Rather not."

"You know the drill." She said lightly, pulling out the Ibuprofen. She knew that wouldn't make much of a dent in his pain, but she was also nervous about giving him anything stronger. She tried to keep up conversation, "Janet wouldn't be happy with me if I didn't harass my patient."

"Janet?"

"She's not here, Daniel. I'm just joking." Sam regretted mentioning Janet. He didn't need any extra confusion. One thing at a time. She had been keeping one of their ice packs over his right eye to try to bring down the swelling. She moved it off his face and saw that at least some of the swelling had gone down. "Try to open your eyes."

"Not now, Sam. Please."

Sam frowned. He had grabbed her hand again and the misery written all over his pale and bruised face was enough to convince her to back down. "Ok, Daniel. It's ok. I know your head is hurting. Do you think you can swallow some water and a pill?"

"No."

Sam bit her lip. That wasn't good. She really needed to get some fluids in him. But it wouldn't be worth much if he threw it all up. "Daniel, are you still nauseated?"

"Yes."

"Do you think you could tolerate the Dramamine?" Sam pulled the antihistamines out of her pack. "They're the dissolving kind."

She waited for an answer. It took a minute before Daniel whispered yes.

"Ok, here you go." She said, and gave him one of the tablets and sat back. "Daniel, I'm just going to call the Colonel and let him know you're awake." He didn't respond so she just kept rubbing his hand and hit her radio. "Colonel O'Neill."

"Carter."

"Sir, Daniel's awake."

"Good." She could hear the relief in his voice, "How is he?"

"Miserable."

"Figured. He with it?"

Sam started to answer, then realized Daniel was reaching for her radio. She handed it to him with a smile. "Jack."

"Daniel?" Sam could hear the surprise in the Colonel's voice. "Hey, how're you doing?"

"Jack, there's something...wrong."

Sam frowned, her gut clenching. She heard the faint alarm in the Colonel's voice as well, "Daniel, what's wrong?"

"Something. I know...there was something I needed to tell you."

"About what?"

"I can't remember." Daniel's eyes flashed open and he frowned at the top bunk. There was pain, confusion and desperation in his eyes and panic in his voice. "Jack, I can't remember."

"Ok, take it easy, Daniel." He said calmly, "You're head hurts and you're confused. Give it a minute. Whatever it is, it'll come to you."

"There isn't time." Daniel closed his eyes, dropped the radio and pressed his hand to his head, groaning.

"Easy, Daniel." Colonel O'Neill continued, "Slow down. What _do _you remember?"

"Daniel?" Sam asked softly, "Are you ok?" He was breathing rapidly and rolled his head away from her. Her hand shot out to check his pulse as his hand dropped limply to the bunk. He wasn't unconscious, but he also wasn't responding to her.

"Daniel?" The Colonel's voice came again, sounding very concerned. "You still there? Carter what's going on?"

Sam grabbed the radio, "Sir, he's not doing so great."

"Got that, Carter. Is he still conscious?"

"Barely. Not responding to me though. Pulse and respirations are through the roof."

"Crap. Any idea what he's talking about?"

"No idea, sir. He just woke up and that was the first he said about anything."

There was a moment's hesitation. "All right. Keep me posted; we're about to bust down a door here so I'm gonna go."

"Copy that, sir."

* * *

><p>When Jack had heard Daniel's voice, he had been flooded with relief. <em>Short-lived relief<em>. Now, he was just feeling increasingly worried. Whatever Daniel had to tell him sounded serious and certainly had Daniel worried. But there wasn't anything he could do about that, or about Daniel's condition, right now. Jack frowned, turning back to Teal'c and Tormic who had listened to the conversation and then returned to their efforts to force the door open. After leaving the library room, they had headed back to the transporter and gone to a different area. They'd been exploring another floor of the castle without any luck so far. The hallway they had been walking down had ended in an ornate and important looking door. Setting aside his concern, Jack focused on what was directly in front of him. They were completely grasping at straws, but they had decided to see what was beyond the door and had been attempting to get the heavy door to open for a few minutes now. Teal'c gave a final shove on the jammed handle and Tormic's face turned red as he pulled back on a lever. The door slid open a crack.

Jack joined them in tugging on the door. He grunted, "I hope whatever is beyond this door is spectacularly important."

Thirty seconds later, Jack let out a low whistle.

"Is this spectacularly important, O'Neill?" Teal'c's dry deadpan cut through the silence.

Jack broke into a grin. He clapped Teal'c on the shoulder, "Oh, yeah. I'd say it is."

* * *

><p>Sam took another antibiotic and tried to believe they were helping. She had already turned down the heat in the little room. Her fever wasn't as bad as it had been, but she was far too warm. Daniel was also warm to her touch. She sighed, sitting the canteen down and adjusting the cool cloth on his forehead. He'd been resting quietly for over an hour now. Sam sat back, still holding his hand. The last she'd heard from Colonel O'Neill had been a quick report that they'd found something of interest and he'd get back to her in a bit. Well, he was almost due for his 1530 check-in. She hadn't liked that he hadn't been more forthcoming with information. He'd seemed very distracted. It would have been nice to have had some idea of what they'd found. At least she would have had something interesting to think about. Her eyes were about to drift closed again when she realized Daniel was looking at her.<p>

"Hey." She leaned forward and spoke softly.

"Sam." He whispered.

She smiled. He had both eyes open halfway and had tracked her face as she'd leaned closer. She could tell he was still having trouble focusing, but he was looking at her steadily. "How are you feeling?"

"Everything hurts."

Sam nodded, "I know. You had a bad fall."

He frowned, "What happened?"

Sam gave the brief explanation she'd given him earlier. She had the feeling he wasn't going to remember anyway. He didn't look like he remembered any of it. "How is your head?"

"Pounding." He licked his lips, "I'm thirsty, Sam."

"Yeah, you're really dehydrated." She grabbed the canteen. "You think you can lift your head?"

"I don't know. I'm so tired."

She shook his hand, seeing him already start to drift away, "Stay with me, Daniel. I'll help you." She gently lifted his head slightly and was happy to find that he managed to take a sip and keep it down. She gave him another sip, then laid his head back down on the balled up blanket they were using as a pillow. "How's that?"

"Ok."

"Good job. You feeling any better than earlier?"

Daniel smiled slightly, "Earlier? Sam, I don't _remember _earlier."

Sam smiled back, "It's ok. Let's put it this way; you _seem_ better than earlier."

Shifting uncomfortably, Daniel stared at her. "If this is better, I'm glad I don't remember earlier."

"What _do_ you remember?" She hated to strain his brain, but she did want to know if he remembered anything about what he'd been worried about earlier. He had seemed so desperate and worried. Whatever he had to tell the Colonel must have been dreadfully important.

"Everything's confusing, Sam." Daniel sighed. _Confusing_ was putting it mildly. If truth be told, he felt like his brain had been through a blender. He had snippets of memories that didn't make sense and didn't connect with other memories. The last clear thing he remembered was Janet's birthday party. He did remember being on a mission and that things had gone downhill fast. There was something about Teal'c being injured, something about a Goa'uld with trademark glowing eyes shouting at him, something about Jack being shot and a sliver of a memory of being wet and cold. And white animals. None of which coalesced into anything sensible.

"It's ok, Daniel." Sam soothed, "Don't worry about it. You just need some more time to recover."

He studied her carefully. She looked like she needed to recover too. She looked sick. He frowned, "Are you ok?"

"Better. Much better."

"Jack and Teal'c?"

"They're doing better too. They're off exploring; trying to find us a way home."

"That sounds nice." Daniel closed his eyes. Things were starting to spin. He had the uneasy feeling of being on a boat. A small boat. On a big sea. A stormy sea. _Crap_. He was going to throw up.

"Daniel?" Sam's voice interrupted his unhappy thoughts. "You ok?"

"Dizzy." He grabbed the edge of the bunk. "Oh man."

Sam touched his hand. "I've got Dramamine."

He wasn't sure he cared. At the moment, he didn't think he could tolerate anything. The water he'd swallowed, that had felt so good in his parched throat, now was threatening to come back up. His ribs and stomach ached terribly, so he knew he'd already done a lot of puking. But Sam was coaxing him and he let her drop the tablet into his mouth. He could hear her talking, but he wasn't able to process what she was saying. It was better if he just stayed quiet and completely still. She'd understand if he ignored her for just a bit.

* * *

><p>Jack hadn't wanted to get Carter's expectations up too high. When he had stepped into the room, he'd felt his own spirits soar with the thought that they might have found the place they'd been looking for all along. But in case it wasn't, he'd just reported to her a perfunctory and brief report at their earlier check-in. Now that he and Teal'c had been exploring it for the better part of an hour, he felt more inclined to share the news. It was time for them to check-in anyway.<p>

"Carter."

"Sir."

"Status."

"Well, Daniel's awake again. Still has a headache and is pretty nauseated and dizzy."

"He say anything about what he was talking about earlier?"

"No."

"Ok." Jack glanced back across the room to where Tormic and Teal'c were trying to have a conversation in broken Goa'uld. "We're going to be another few hours, Carter."

"What did you find, sir?"

"A lab. Or a computer terminal, control center..." he faltered, "Something you'll like a lot."

"Oh?" Yep, she sounded excited. "Lots of shiny stuff?"

"Well, not all shiny, but definitely stuff you'd like. We can't make heads or tails of it. But there's still more I want to get a look at out here before we head back. Once we poke around a bit more, we'll head back. You can come up here tomorrow and see what you make of it."

"Sounds good."

"Everything else quiet down there?"

"Not a sound from the halls."

"Good. I'll contact you in thirty."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

><p>Sam glanced at her watch again. 1800. She was getting antsy. The Colonel had called and said they were on their way back. He wanted to take her to the lab they had found so she could check it out. That was a good twenty minutes ago and she really, really wanted to get going. Having spent the day relatively relaxed, she was feeling better and ready to get back into the action. She wanted to get them all home. She sighed as another minute ticked by. Glancing over at the couch, she realized Daniel was smiling at her.<p>

"What?" She asked with a slight smile.

"You can't stand inaction can you?" He asked softly.

"Does it show?"

"Oh yeah."

She laughed, and then coughed. Reaching for her canteen, she dropped down onto the couch next to Daniel and took a drink. He had been sitting up for the past two hours and seemed to be tolerating it well. She hadn't been keen on letting him get up when he'd asked, but she hadn't been able to dissuade him. So she'd helped drag him over to the couch. That hadn't been easy, but he'd made it without incident. Although it had taken a good twenty minutes before he'd been able to sit up straight and she'd been sure he wasn't going to pass out again or throw up the sips of water he'd had. He hadn't, though, and had now been tolerating the sugary drink mix she'd put in his canteen which made her feel better. He was refusing to try any food, but at least he was getting a bit of sugar. The Dramamine seemed to be helping to a certain extent, though he still complained that the room was spinning.

Sam hadn't been sitting for more than a few seconds when she heard a knock on the door.

"Lucy, I'm home."

She grinned at the Colonel's words. She could hear Teal'c asking about who Lucy was. Sam could've sworn they'd introduced Teal'c to _I Love Lucy_ reruns at some point. So maybe he was just pulling the Colonel's leg. Had been known to happen. She moved to the door and unfastened the heavy latch. She pulled it back and was met with a smile from Colonel O'Neill.

"Welcome home, sir." She smiled, "Teal'c, Tormic, good to see you all back safely."

"Yes, good to be back safely." Jack nodded as Teal'c helped Sam push the door shut. Jack was relieved to see her looking a bit better. His eyes headed across the room and he was even more relieved to see Daniel awake, and sitting up. He nodded, "So, Daniel, decided you'd stop playing up that _I got hit by a tornado_ excuse and get back to work?"

"Knew I couldn't get away with it for long." Daniel said with a smile, snapping his fingers, and then dropping his hand back to the couch. His head was leaned against the back of the couch and he didn't look up to swatting a fly.

Carter had told him Daniel had insisted on sitting up and Jack had entertained a hope that that meant Daniel was doing a lot better. Now, looking at him, Jack realized it had only meant that Daniel was as stubborn and determined as usual. He didn't look good. Three shades too pale, except for all the spectacular bruising. At least some of the swelling had gone down and he had both eyes open now. Didn't look like he was seeing very well, though. He had a very vacant stare and wasn't even trying to squint to bring anything into focus. Jack hadn't even thought to look for his glasses after the tornado. Not that he probably could have found them in the rubble. He'd just have to hope that Daniel had remembered his spare pair this time.

Jack dropped onto the couch next to him. He glanced up at Carter. "So, Carter. Dinner then we take a tour of the lab?"

"Sounds good, sir." She nodded, turning to the kitchenette. "I have it all warmed up and ready."

"Great. What's for dinner?"

"Uh. Cod and potato rolls, carrots, mystery package one and mystery package two." She said, laying out the feast on the little table.

"Sounds delicious. Dessert?"

"There's a yogurt like substance..."

Jack didn't like the way her nose turned up at that. "Huh. Maybe I'll pass."

Nodding, she sat down on the floor across from them. "I wish I'd've passed."

As they ate, Jack explained what they'd found on their travels. He carefully avoided mentioning anything about the library room. Teal'c and he had agreed it would be better to tell Carter about that after they left Daniel. There was no way Daniel was up to trekking up to see the library...which of course would be exactly what he would insist on doing if he caught wind of it. Jack glanced at him. On the other hand, maybe he wouldn't be so insistent today. Daniel hadn't said one word since they'd started eating and had refused to try anything. He was only this quiet when he was really feeling bad. So Jack kept his mouth shut. Teal'c had attempted to convey to Tormic the need not to mention the room. It was hard to know if the man got it or not. Either way, Daniel hadn't seemed to even notice Tormic was around, so he wasn't likely to strike up a conversation with him anytime soon.

Once they were finished with dinner, Jack headed for the door. He led Carter back out to the hallway, leaving Teal'c and Tormic with Daniel. This trek was to serve a dual purpose. Whatever was in that lab was Carter's field of expertise and might just provide them with a way home. However, he also needed to have a private conversation with his Major...


	25. Chapter 25

"So what all did you find out here, sir?" Sam asked as she followed him down the hallway. As tired as she felt, she was extremely curious about the lab that the Colonel had mentioned. She was probably getting ahead of herself and going to be desperately disappointed. There was still a chance she wasn't going to be able to figure anything out or find anything of value in the lab. But now that she had become reintroduced to optimism, she wasn't eager for it to go anywhere.

"There were a lot of empty rooms." Jack replied, his eyes roving the hall as they walked. "Or rooms that just didn't seem to have anything of value in them. We did a lot of walking and opened many doors. _Many doors_. We found a lab for you and a library for Daniel."

"A library?" She asked curiously. "You didn't mention that before."

"Nope." Jack said, leading into the transporter and touching a dot. "You know what Daniel would have done if he'd heard the word library."

Sam nodded slowly, understanding, "He would have dragged himself all the way."

"Which is exactly why I didn't say anything."

"You're a lot smarter than you let on, sir." Carter smiled.

"You've noticed." He led her down the hallway towards the library. "I want you to take a look at it and then I'll take you yonder to your lab." He pulled the door open and led her inside. He heard her sharply indrawn breath and smiled.

"Sir!" She gasped, her eyes wide as she glanced around the room. "This is...it's just like..."

"I know."

"No wonder you didn't want to tell Daniel about this place!" She met his smile with one of her own. "This isn't just a library. This is a library that he was willing to be left behind to study."

Jack really didn't like remembering _that_. It had taken a while, but he'd finally reached a place where he could respect Daniel's reasons and understand _why_ Daniel had wanted to stay there; but he still felt a familiar twist of fear remembering that close call. He respected and understood. That did not mean he had to like it.

Sam was continuing, "Sir, he'd go nuts."

Jack snorted, "Oh yeah he would. Which is why we're not telling him for a while yet. I'd rather face his wrath at withholding information from him than have him get worse because he came tearing up here."

"That's a very good idea." She nodded, and then started wandering around the room, "I don't understand. This looks _just_ like Ernest's planet. Look, the writing on the walls is exactly the same..."

As she trailed off to mutter to herself, Jack knew she had just flipped the switch in her brain that took her from a place where normal people lived to a place where science and reasoning lived. He couldn't let on, because it would ruin his reputation, but he loved it when she entered that mode. He'd been wary at first when he'd heard she was a scientist but over the years he'd come to respect her greatly. She'd never yet steered him wrong and had pulled their butts out of the fire more times than he could count. He eased up against a wall and adjusted his P90. She was still muttering. He listened to her and Daniel as a rule, but many times, he did tune them out. Over the years, he'd figured out how to pick out what he needed from their monologues and ignore the rest. Sam didn't let him get away with the zoning as much as Daniel did. He frowned inadvertently. Not too long ago, she had actually talked to him about that.

She had noticed that he had been doing a lot more zoning when Daniel talked and showing less and less interest in what he was saying. So she'd pulled him aside about six months ago and mentioned it to him. Jack had bristled at first, but realized she was totally right. He _had_ been ignoring Daniel a bit too much and it had been taking a toll on their friendship. A friendship that was so laid back that Jack had a tendency at time to take it for granted. No, they really didn't need to talk a lot. But they did need to work at it and never lose that respect for one another that they'd been building on for the past five years. He'd been letting things slide too often lately. Several close calls and a few major arguments had shown him that.

He shook himself and realized he was zoning out on Carter this time. She had been across the room and was now coming back toward him, a frown creasing her expression. He jerked his head to the room at large, "So?"

"So, it's incredible, sir! I don't understand any of this, but this room is almost exactly like the place where we found Dr. Littlefield. There are a few things that are different. The pedestal that was in the center of the room back on that planet is missing here. But these walls with the writing look the same. And all these books..." She waved her hand around the room, as her excitement suddenly turned to confusion, "Why would this room be here?"

He shrugged.

"It's too similar not to have been built by the same people." She continued to hypothesize. "So was this castle originally built by the Ancients?"

"We don't know that the Ancients were the ones who built the other meeting place. It could have been the..." Jack hesitated. "What was the name of the other group? The one's we haven't met yet..."

"Furlings." Sam answered.

"Yeah. Them. I really need to ask Thor about that place and the Furlings next time I see him." Jack mused. "I get the feeling they were the red-headed step children of the great races."

"Could be. We haven't really found anything else about them." Sam nodded, "Anyway, I suppose it _is _possible this place was built by one of the great races. Or it could be they just built settlements on various planets to meet with one another. It's all speculation at this point, of course. Daniel could figure it out."

"Yeah." Jack nodded, meeting her suddenly concerned eyes. "About that. How do you think he's doing?"

"Not great, but better than I expected after I saw him last night." Sam felt a chill. "I was really worried last night."

"He wasn't looking so great, I'll admit."

"Sir, you all looked terrible." Sam countered, feeling her heart grip again thinking about how her teammates had looked. "He...I thought he was dying. And you and Teal'c..."

"Weren't looking so spry ourselves." Jack admitted. He could see tears forming in her eyes.

"When you collapsed...I didn't know what to do. I didn't know who to help first and what to do for any of you." She said hurriedly, looking more upset by the second. "I didn't know how you'd been injured. I didn't know how to help. And Daniel..." She took a deep breath. "I don't know if I could handle it if any of you..."

He grabbed he shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. "Hey." Jack interrupted her. "We're all ok."

"This time."

Jack dropped his hands and studied her, realizing just how stressed she really was. "Sam."

"I didn't know what to do, sir. What happens when I fail? What happens when I make a mistake I can't fix?"

_Wow._ Ok, this had taken a turn he hadn't been expecting. "Sam, what's going on with you?"

She shook her head and tried to brush away the tears.

Of course, watching her struggle, Jack was reminded of what Daniel had been saying about her not having recovered from K'tau and the thing with Orlin. While he'd been initially planning to address these issues with Carter, he hadn't expected her to be quite so upset. Obviously, the stresses of this trip were only compounding the unresolved issues she had been bottling up. He decided it was time he try to help her pick up the pieces. She looked like she was right on the edge; more so than he thought he'd ever seen before.

"Carter. Talk to me."

"Sorry, sir." She shook her head and looked at him steadily, "I'm just tired. I'm not myself."

"Yeah. And I think you've got a good excuse. But that's not all of it. You're doubting yourself." He said pointedly.

Her eyes flicked away.

"We all make mistakes..." He started.

"Did any of your mistakes nearly destroy an entire planet?" Sam snapped at him.

There was a lot of anger in her eyes, but mostly he just saw blinding self-doubt. He took one tentative step closer and spoke softly. "No. I don't think we really need to compare mistakes, Sam. Or close calls. Or near misses." She looked up at him and he could tell she was trying to gather herself and set aside her turmoil. "If the four of us sat down and tried to see who was the biggest screw-up of the bunch, I don't think we'd really enjoy the process...or accomplish anything."

"I know." She said softly. "I'm sorry, sir."

"Stop apologizing. This isn't a lecture. But I'm worried about you." There, he'd said it. And it was the truth. He _was _worried about her. Actually, thanks to the recent incident with Apophis, he was worried about Teal'c's state of mind too. And Daniel...well, worrying about Daniel was a full time job. He could add it to his resume.

"Really, sir, I'm ok. Just overtired."

"I think there's more to it." Jack wasn't entirely sure he wanted to keep going. He'd never really tried to dig into Carter's psyche like this. But he was in charge of the team and they were his responsibility. "Blaming yourself for what happened, almost happened, on K'tau is not going to make you stronger. It's going to destroy you."

He saw that spark of anger in her eyes again.

"Are you telling me I should just get over it?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you." he said gently. "You can't hold on to stuff like this. If there's one downfall about the members of this team, it's that we're all too good at trying to destroy ourselves."

She was studying him silently. He could almost feel her anger dissipating. She finally nodded. "You're right."

"Of course I am. I'm in charge."

That got him a small smile. She sobered. "So. If I accept this then I expect you to live by the same rule. The next time things fall apart I don't want to worry that you're going to blame yourself and close yourself off to us."

Jack wanted to ask when he'd ever done that; but he could think of several examples already. For a moment they just stared at each other. "So we good?" he finally asked.

She smiled.

Jack returned her smile. "Good." That had been a good therapy session. _And a lot easier than trying to hash out issues with Daniel. _"Why is it that Daniel is never around when I'm sounding so eloquent?"

"You wouldn't want him to know your secret, now would you, sir?"

Jack nodded, then a thought hit him, "Any idea what he was so worked up about, by the way?"

"That he wanted to tell you? No." She frowned, "Whatever it was, it must have been pretty significant. The minute he heard your voice, he was grabbing my radio. He looked extremely worried, sir."

"Maybe he was just remembering something from a long time ago. He was really confused. He thought he was hung-over after Janet's party."

"That was weeks ago."

"I know."

Sam shook her head, coughing into her sleeve, "I don't know. Maybe. What if it _did_ have to do with right now, though?"

"Sam, he hasn't been out of my sight..." Jack started, then hesitated. "Ok, maybe he _has_ been out of my sight a few times the last few days. But he didn't say anything about this before we got to the castle, so he couldn't have found something out before we got here. He would have told me. Once we got close and split up to find a way into the outbuilding, he was out of my sight for under ten minutes, I'd estimate, before he got hurtled into a wall. What could he possibly have found out in that time? We were getting slammed by the hail and wind. What could he have seen?"

"I don't know, I don't. But it seems like he _did_ see something." Sam said. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see if he remembers."

"_If_ he remembers." Jack repeated somberly. "I'm getting a bit worried about that, actually. He still hasn't acted like he remembers anything about this trip, has he?"

"No. But he may just need a bit longer." Sam said, not convincing either of them. "He's got a severe head injury and hasn't really had a lot of time to recover yet." She hesitated, hating to give voice to her fears, "Sir, I'm concerned he may have damaged his ear drums, or his neck. The vertigo is pretty significant."

Jack didn't like the sounds of that one bit. "Dizziness is expected after a concussion."

"Yes. But that extreme spinning sensation that won't stop even when he's lying still with his eyes closed is more than just dizziness, sir." Sam countered. "The Dramamine seems to help, but I can't do much more for him at this point. We don't have any way of knowing how much damage he may have done. We're just going to have to watch him closely and try to make him rest."

Jack snorted. "On any other day that could prove to be a problem. But he looked pretty content to not move a muscle this evening."

"I don't know how long that will last."

Jack nodded, "Knowing him, not long enough. We'll take it one step at a time." He glanced around the room once more. "It would be really helpful if he could give us some idea of what happened on this planet. And how to get home." Turning his gaze back to Carter, he said, "Let's head to your lab. There's nothing much we can do here right now."

She nodded and followed him out. They walked slowly back toward the transporter. Halfway there, they were startled by a scampering sound coming around a corner. Jack lowered his P90 as a horde of the rats came running toward them. Sam gave a small exclamation and backed up out of the way. She wasn't fussy about a lot of things, but rodents didn't really thrill her. There were about ten rats and they just kept running down the hall without giving any indication of even seeing them. Jack frowned and looked back the way they'd come. Animals running in one direction typically meant that something had been chasing them.

He motioned to Carter and received a nod in reply. They headed in the direction the rats had come from. He wasn't sure he wanted to run into whatever had been chasing the rats; on the other hand, he didn't want to have a surprise later. They stopped on either side of the doorway and cautiously peered inside. It was a good-sized room that had huge windows facing out over the city below. They had explored it earlier and found it offered a magnificent view of the city, but nothing else to help them. There was a lot of broken furniture in the room, some areas of crumbling stonework around the edges and one door. It led to the room next door, another empty room. Teal'c had examined it earlier. Now, Jack peered into the room and once more found it to be empty. They stepped inside and Sam headed straight for the windows.

"Sir, this is amazing!"

"I know. Best view in the place."

She glanced out the window, seeing the violent storm had not abated much at all. It was a phenomenal sight to behold, even if it was still a bit scary. There were trees, even as she watched, being snapped in half. She felt the Colonel join her at the window.

"That is not good." He said. "If this keeps up, we're never going to get out of here."

She nodded. Even if the Death Glider hadn't been destroyed by the storm, there was no way they would be able to fly in this maelstrom. Of course, that left the question of where exactly they could possibly go anyway. She turned from the window and took a quick glance around the room. Frowning, she asked, "What do you think they were running from?"

"Good question. Maybe they just needed the exercise."

They started to head out, and Sam noticed something set on the wall. "Sir, this looks exactly like something Teal'c and I saw in the underground control room. Back when we took the rings down." She pointed at the wall where a marble the size of a fist was inlaid into a decorative framework. "Daniel said he'd seen one back at the tower too."

Jack joined her in studying it. "Ok. So what is it? Any idea?"

Sam pursed her lips and pulled a device out of her pack. "I'm not sure, sir. Daniel theorized it might be some sort of a monitor; maybe like a camera." She looked at her monitor. "It is giving off some energy readings. Not a lot, but it is powered."

"But no way of knowing what it is?"

"Not at this point, sir." She shook her head, "I don't have enough information."

"Great. So someone _could_ be watching us."

Sam nodded grimly.

He did _not_ like the sounds of this at all. Bad enough this crazy world had it out for them. Worse still if someone was actively observing them. Again, nothing they could do about it right now anyway. Just have to be on their guard. He shook his head, "Ok. So onward?"

They headed out again. They didn't run into any more signs of life as they returned to the transporter. Stepping out again, on the floor where the lab was, they glanced up and down the hall cautiously. Clear. Jack led her down the hallway and into the lab. He smiled again as she sucked in a surprised breath. It was actually a pretty breathtaking sight, he had to admit. Whatever civilization had lived on this planet, they had been incredibly advanced. He didn't know much about this kind of stuff, but he and Teal'c both knew enough to know when they were staring at advanced technology. He glanced at Sam who was already flitting around the room like a firefly in a field in summer. Her despondency from earlier had completely vanished by now.

"So, what do you think?"

"I think it's amazing, sir! I don't even know where to begin."

"What about over here?" Jack motioned with his finger. She joined him and he led her to a small alcove. "This looks important to me."

Sam narrowed her eyes. It looked important to her too. "Sir, this could be what we've been looking for all along."

"Our way home?"

"A way to stop the weather."

He frowned looking the machine up and down, "What? How on earth would you have figured that out just by looking at it?"

Sam smiled. "I'm only speculating. But it is the most intricate device in this room. It has its own alcove here and we know that Dougrae had been experimenting with the weather. Again, it's a guess."

"Ok. So we assume for now it is the mechanism to control the weather." Jack looked back at the device. It looked like an industrial sized dishwasher to him. "How do we get sunshine and 70s? Where's the setting for spring, Carter?"

She laughed, ending in a coughing spell. Straightening up, she looked at him and said hoarsely, "Sir. There's a lot here. I'm going to need some time to figure all of this out."

"I know." He looked at her steadily. Pale features. Still sick. She needed to sleep. "It's going to take time. That's ok. We've got time. I just needed to see what you thought."

Sam stepped back into the main part of the lab. "I think that there's a lot of possibilities here." She looked back at the array of computer terminals and wiring spread across the room. The room itself was about twice the size the conference room back at the SGC. There were three high windows set into the stone walls, letting in the same limited light that had been illuminating most of the other rooms in the castle. There were the same pale purple crystals in sconces along the walls that had been outside in the hallways. Another one of the marble-like devices was set into one wall. Three walls were lined with computer terminals. None of the monitors were on at the moment. Seeing all the equipment reminded her of what she'd seen when flying to the city.

"Sir, I forgot to tell you, when we were in the Death Glider I saw something unusual." She turned to look at him. _How could she have forgotten?_ "There was a barrier."

He motioned for her to continue.

She explained how the Glider had reacted as if it had run into a wall. "It showed up on the monitor. I could see sunshine beyond it, sir. Something was keeping the sun out..."

"And the storm in." Jack finished. She nodded. He said, "That is not natural."

"Well, I wouldn't think so. There's a lot of stuff we've seen out here that hasn't been natural for _Earth_, but I still think that this was a manufactured force field or barrier."

"Goa'uld?"

"Possibly. We've encountered several types of force fields or energy fields before. Aris Boch had one."

Jack shook his head, "Don't remind me."

"The point is, there may be any number of alien races which utilize technology like this." She glanced back at the room. "There may even be a control in here that would turn it off."

"And would that be a good thing?"

"I don't really know, sir." She turned at a sudden sound behind her. The Colonel had just pulled out a chair and dropped into it. She frowned. "Sir?"

"Pull up a seat, Major." He shoved a chair toward her with his foot.

Sam sat down and frowned, "Sir, what's going on?"

"We need to talk."

"Ok." She was completely mystified. He'd just _had_ a talk with her. She thought they'd gotten everything settled. Looking at him, she could tell he was dead serious. Sam couldn't remember him _ever_ before doing anything like this.

Jack sighed. "What do you think about all of this?"

"It's a mess."

"That it is." He agreed readily. "And I can't help but think that there's something very wrong going on here."

"I agree."

"I can't help but think that we're in the middle of something much bigger than we've been thinking."

Sam frowned again, "Like what?"

"That's what I don't know." Jack squeezed his hand in a fist. "But something _is_ wrong here. I feel like we've been fed a pack of lies. A pack of lies from silent walls and deserted ruins. No one is speaking, but all I'm hearing is lies." Until he'd said it out loud, Jack hadn't even realized how tense he really was. He saw his tension reflected on Carter's face.

Sam studied him for a moment. She wasn't sure what to say or do. She didn't know what he was talking about; but then, her mind was still muddled. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "What exactly do you mean, sir?"

"I'm not totally sure, Carter." Having said it aloud, he felt somewhat more confident that he wasn't crazy. But still. He _wasn't _sure what he was worrying about. He decided to start with the facts. Quickly, he recounted what he'd found back down in the lower part of the city. There had been evidence of a once bustling culture in ruin, layers of various cultures, death and destruction at every turn, and a lot of links that didn't lead to anything all the way along. He spent a few minutes catching her up in more detail on the Jaffa, Sidrok, and the non-Jaffa guy Daniel had met in the forest. He explained part of his theories.

"So we're theorizing that the people here rebelled against Dougrae?" Sam asked, "That there was a battle between the Kamyen Obyet and the Jaffa that Dougrae had taken over from Montu? And that this guy Sidrok and the other guy, the guy who was talking about home were survivors of the battle?"

"That's the only thing I can think of at the moment." Jack acknowledged. "It makes sense. If Dougrae had usurped Montu's reign over the Kamyen Obyet, like the journals and writing Daniel's been reading imply, and then took over this place, whatever this place is, it would make sense that the people he basically kidnapped would eventually try to get rid of him."

"Like we said before, they'd had practice." Sam nodded.

"Right."

She frowned and shook her head at him. "So? That's what we've been going on all along. It makes sense. What doesn't?"

Before Jack could answer, they were startled by a creaking sound outside. Both of them spun toward the door and raised their weapons. Jack motioned to her and she slid to the opposite side of the door that lead out to the hall. There it was again. To Jack, it sounded a lot like a door opening and closing. But there weren't any doors right outside the lab; he was sure of it. They froze at the lab doorway and listened. Nothing. Nothing except the distant roll of thunder and pouring rain. Jack met Carter's eyes and she nodded. He slid down low and risked a glance out into the hall. Nothing. No alien monsters, rats, or people. Just the same empty hall. He frowned and shrugged at Carter.

Standing up, he led the way out into the hall. They did a careful sweep of the area and still came up empty. He'd been right; there weren't any doors at this end of the hall. He looked at Carter, "You did hear it, too?"

"I did. Sounded like a door."

"Great." He looked at the walls. "So that probably means we've got ghosts in the walls."

Sam had already walked up to the wall nearest her and started running her hands along the wall. "Sir, this _is_ paneling of some sort. It is possible there's a passageway."

"It _is_ a castle." He mumbled, running his hands along the other wall.

Thirty minutes later, they met back together outside of the lab. Jack shook his head, "I got nothing."

Sam frowned, "Unless we were hearing something else, it has to be here."

"And there has to be a way to get to it."

"Maybe not. This is a highly technological castle, remember. The mechanism may only work from the other side. Or it could be remote controlled..."

"Or something." Jack agreed. He didn't like it. Didn't like the thoughts of someone stalking them in the walls. Suddenly, he didn't like the fact that they were all split up again. But he couldn't do much about it at the moment. So he shrugged, "Ok. Let's head back. Nothing we're going to be able to do right now about Casper."

They headed back down the hall, then Sam grabbed his arm. "Sir, look."

He followed her pointing finger to a slit of light down the hall. A door stood ajar. Again, their weapons came up and they approached cautiously. As they got closer, Jack realized it was one of the doors he and Teal'c hadn't been able to open up on their trip earlier. He frowned. As if they didn't already have confirmation that they weren't alone in the city; now it was absolutely clear. Sam stood at the ready as he cautiously pushed the door open. There was no one in the room, but the room was lit brighter than anywhere else they'd been so far. They stepped inside and gazed curiously at the odd sight before them. It looked like another type of lab; although much smaller. But it had that medical-sanitized look to it. There was one desk and some sort of computer terminal. Over against the far wall stood five barrel-like structures.

"What do you suppose these are?" Sam paused by the structures. They were each over seven feet high and were crystal clear and empty. Each one had a door and all but one was closed. She walked up to the open door and peered inside.

"Hot water heaters?" Jack quipped, looking over his shoulder. They _did_ kind of look like hot water heaters.

She shot him a slightly annoyed look. "Somehow I doubt it, sir. But they do look like some sort of individual pod or chamber."

"For what?"

"Not sure." She ran her hand along a line of text on the front of the door. "Sir, does this look Russian to you?"

He peered closer. It did. He nodded and tried to decipher it. "Well, all I can make out for sure is the word _life_."

"Life?"

"As in living, breathing, existence, yes." He pulled out a notebook. "That's all I can get, though. I'll write it down the rest of it and Daniel can earn his keep."

Sam nodded and one he finished scribbling, asked. "So, back then, sir?"

They were both exhausted. There wasn't much they were going to do at this point in the day. "Let's go. We need another good night's sleep."

"That would be great."

So they stepped back out into the hallway. They were almost to the transporter when the dead silence of the hall vanished in an explosion that threw them off their feet...

* * *

><p>Jack caught Sam as she flew backwards and together they slid down the wall to land in a heap. She was coughing violently, but as far as he could tell, she was ok. He was shaken, but not injured. The blast had occurred some ten feet ahead of them. Had they been even a few seconds quicker in returning to the transporter, they'd be dead. He pulled her to her feet, meeting her eyes briefly. She nodded at him. Raising his P90, Jack headed cautiously forward. A few seconds later, he reached the scene of the detonation. Wind and rain were buffeting him and as he peered around the wall, he realized that the explosion had taken place in the empty room across from the transporter. The huge windows had been shattered and the storm was pouring inside. Most of the wall that had separated the room from the hallway was rubble.<p>

He shook his head and looked at Carter, "Someone _was_ out here."

"And they were trying to kill us." She returned his look, a tinge of fear in her eyes.

There was, of course, no one in sight. He headed to the transporter, feeling the rain soak his jacket again. There were a few pieces of rubble against the door of the transporter. Together, they managed to pull them aside so they could get inside. Sam looked at him, "It's a good thing that the door was closed. The explosion could have destroyed the control panel of the transporter."

"Maybe that was the plan." He said somberly, and stepped inside.


	26. Chapter 26

Jack didn't like it. Not one bit. He watched the canteen tip over on the table. _Again_. Bad enough that a perfect storm raged outside the castle; now they had to add earthquakes? He sat forward on the couch and picked up the canteen. This was not just a tremor and it was most certainly _not_ his imagination. This was the third time he'd felt the room shake. And it was getting worse, not better. Now he could spend his time wondering whether the castle was going to be blown apart from the gale force winds, or if it was going to be shaken apart by an earthquake. Great. He so needed the added stress right now. He glanced over at Daniel to see if the quake had disturbed him and saw that he was blinking slowly at the top bunk. He'd been oblivious to the previous quakes. _He'd been oblivious to just about everything this morning._ Easing off the couch, Jack slowly walked over and dropped back into the chair next to the bed, rubbing his hand.

"Hey."

Daniel didn't respond at first, just kept staring blankly at the bunk above him. After a minute, he closed his eyes and asked, "Did something fall?"

"It's an earthquake."

Frowning, Daniel asked, "Earthquake?"

"Yeah, I think this whole place is experiencing the apocalypse."

"Almost every culture has tales of apocalypse or an end of the world catastrophe." Daniel mumbled groggily.

"Well, these guys are taking it to a whole new level."

"What guys?"

"The guys who built this place."

Daniel rolled his head over and looked up at Jack. He had that blank look on his face again. "Earthquakes?"

"Yeah. The weather is out of control." Jack offered a reminder, "And now we've been experiencing some minor earthquakes. Think it's time to ask Carter about them actually." Jack rubbed his eyes and hit his radio, "Oh, Carter."

After a few seconds, he heard her voice, "Sir?"

"You notice anything strange lately?"

"Like the earthquakes?"

"Funny you should bring up earthquakes..."

"Yes, sir. We had actually noticed. I believe that...well, I think things are getting worse."

"Get out."

"I haven't really figured a lot out yet, but things seem very out of control."

"Noticed that."

"Sir...There's a lot of stuff here I can't understand." There was hesitation in her voice, "I really need some help."

Jack shook his head, knowing where she was going. "It's a long walk up there, Major."

"I know, sir. But this weather is getting worse. Teal'c just took a look outside. He counted four tornado's, sir. Four. Remember what Tormic said about the weather getting transferred back through the Portal? It's not just us who are being affected by this weather. A lot of people back on Kamyen Obyet could be in a lot of trouble right now, sir. The storm is tearing this world apart and it's mostly unoccupied. Think what is happening back on Kamyen Obyet. Also, if we're going to stand a chance of getting off this planet and getting home, I'm going to need Daniel's help."

"Sam?" Daniel asked, eyes closed.

"Yeah, Daniel. She needs some help." Jack didn't like the thought of taking Daniel up to the lab where Carter, Teal'c and Tormic were all gathered. It was a long walk and Daniel hadn't even been inclined to sit up yet.

"Sir?"

"A minute, Carter."

"What kind of help?" Daniel asked, forcing his eyes open just slightly.

"Your kind of help. She's got a bunch of stuff she can't read." Jack shook his head at Daniel and keyed the radio again, "Carter, is it anything I can help with?"

"Well, sir, I don't doubt that you could read some of this, but this is a corrupted version of Russian. You may not be able to understand much of it."

"I know." Jack said with a sigh. "Ok, Carter. We'll head up to you, but it may be a while."

"That's fine, sir. We're still working our way through the wiring and just trying to figure out what is turned on at the moment. Honestly, it has that look of sabotage about it."

"That really doesn't surprise me. I'll give you a holler when we head out."

"Copy that, sir."

Jack sighed and met Daniel's exhausted eyes. "So."

"So. Guess we're taking a walk."

Jack just studied him, considering. They'd all managed to get some sleep, but Daniel had been restless and uncomfortable all night and Carter had been hacking up a lung. So they hadn't slept as well as anyone would have liked. Carter had, of course, wanted to get up to the lab as soon as possible to start working this morning. She, Teal'c and Tormic had been up there for the past three hours or so. It was now just after 1130 and Jack hadn't really planned on Daniel going anywhere for the day. But they were facing imminent disaster, from what Carter said, and he completely believed her. He shook his head at Daniel.

"We don't have to go right now. We can wait for a bit."

Daniel smiled slightly, closing his eyes again. "I don't really think we have the luxury, Jack." He sighed, "Just remind me again _why_."

"Daniel." Jack said softly. "How are you going to be able to help? You can't even remember what I told you an hour ago."

"No I can't." He admitted easily. He really didn't have a clue. Jack had already been giving him a hard time for asking the same questions over and over again. It was as if he had the attention span of a two-year old. They'd explain everything to him and twenty minutes later, they'd have to explain it all over again. At least now their answers were at least starting to sound familiar. The pounding in his head and the spinning sensation had not abated; it was little wonder he couldn't keep anything straight. He looked back at Jack who was looking really stressed. He tried again, "We don't apparently have a choice."

"I know." Jack admitted. He studied Daniel carefully. He still looked about the same shade of white as a piece of paper, except for the colorful rainbow of bruises across his face and the dark circles under his eyes. Tension and pain were etched into his features and he'd finally admitted to Carter that the Dramamine was only slightly helping to alleviate his dizziness. He had managed to tolerate a few sips of water throughout the morning, but nothing else. He also hadn't wanted to move a muscle. Jack shook his head again. "I don't think you're up to it."

"No choice, remember?" Daniel countered wearily.

Jack knew he was right. He just didn't have to _like _it. "Fine. I'll pack our gear."

He stood up, feeling every bit as huffy as he sounded. He wasn't mad at Daniel, but he had passed the corner of sheer frustration quite a long time ago. It took him a few minutes to categorize and rearrange their packs to his liking. Everything didn't need to go, but he also wasn't about to be left without something important. The blue crystals he left in Daniel's pack, along with the assorted reading materials they'd been collecting along the way. By the time he finished, he figured what he'd left out might as well have been left _in_ as it amounted to such a tiny pile. No chances, though. If there was even a possibility of needing or using something, he wasn't about to have to come back for it later. He also decided to pack some of the food supplies. At this rate, they were going to be eating lunch in the lab. Setting the packs on the couch, he turned back to Daniel who was staring across the little room with a glazed expression. That wasn't entirely new as of late, but Jack noticed there was also a bit of fear in that expression.

Hurrying back over, Jack asked, "Daniel? What is it?" When he didn't still didn't get a response, he shook his shoulder. "Daniel?"

"Jack!" Daniel's hand shot out and grabbed Jack's arm. He looked up at him with panic in his eyes. "It's here."

"What?" Jack asked, completely confused, but more concerned.

"A Goa'uld."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's a Goa'uld. Here. I saw him."

"What? When?"

Daniel's panic only increased, "I don't remember!"

"Take it easy." Jack frowned; this must have been what Daniel had been trying to tell him yesterday. "Take a minute and think. Are you sure you aren't remembering something from before? From another mission?"

"No. No, I didn't know this one. I've never seen him before." Daniel tried to focus. "Jack, I saw him."

"Ok. I believe you. We're on a hostile planet with a history of Goa'uld infestation. I believe it." Jack wracked his own brains. When could he have run into a Goa'uld? "What else do you remember?"

Daniel pressed his hand to his head. "Dark. It was raining."

Jack couldn't help but roll his eyes. _That doesn't narrow it down much._

"I...I was looking, for you I think. He tackled me from behind. We fought." His eyes flew open, "Jack, he wanted a new host!"

Jack's heart skipped a beat. No. It hadn't happened. Daniel was fine. He wasn't a Goa'uld. _He wasn't_. Apparently, Daniel's thoughts had gone the same direction. There was a whole new level of fear in his eyes.

"Jack! I wouldn't even know, would I?" He moaned.

"Daniel, you are not a Goa'uld." Jack said with complete conviction. _He isn't_.

"How would you know?" Daniel was far from convinced.

"For one thing, if you had been Goa'ulded...do you really think the snake would want the kind of headache you've got? Besides, I haven't seen your eyes glowing lately. They've barely been open. So just take it easy and keep thinking. You said you fought the snake? What else do you remember?"

"I don't know. Everything is confusing. It was so dark. The wind...it kept knocking us off our feet. I heard you over the radio...that was when he got me pinned and told me he wanted a new host. The host, he was in bad shape, Jack. Dying. Old." Daniel let his hand fall back to the bed. He looked at Jack, "I fought back and shot him in the head."

Jack's eyebrows rose, "You killed him?"

"No. No, he went crazy and came at me again, but I was running..." He trailed off and frowned. "That's it, that's all I remember."

"Ok." Jack took a deep breath. This was either a humdinger of a nightmare, or it had actually happened. He was inclined to believe it had happened. And he had a good idea _when_ it had happened. "Daniel, this had to have happened when we got here to the city. We split up looking for a way into a building outside to get away from the storm. I found shelter and called for you. You never answered and then the building collapsed on me. You must have gotten thrown into the wall when you were running from the snake."

Daniel nodded slowly. "You told me to find the two story building..."

"Yes. Ok. So we've got a half dead Goa'uld out there somewhere...unless he didn't survive the storm." Jack mused. "I don't know that he stood much of a chance of surviving."

"Unless he had another way in."

"Rings?"

"Maybe."

"He say anything else?"

"Threats. He kept shouting about taking revenge against his former subjects."

Jack shook his head. "I thought Montu was dead."

"Who?"

"The Goa'uld who ruled the Kamyen Obyet people." Jack explained, hating that he'd already told Daniel this earlier in the morning and he still didn't remember.

"No, no." Daniel disagreed, "He said his name was Dougrae."

* * *

><p>Sam grabbed hold of a table and braced her feet as the room shook again. This was getting ridiculous. In the time they'd been exploring the lab, there had been multiple quakes. She was at a loss to explain how and why they were now experiencing these earthquakes. She was an astrophysicist, not a seismologist. Her best guess at this point was that the unstable weather pattern that Dougrae had created had done more damage to the planet than just causing hurricane type weather. <em>And she wasn't a meteorologist, either.<em> Knowing they were in some kind of a force field only led to more questions. Perhaps the force field, by keeping the weather trapped, had caused instability to the planet's core. She frowned. That only led her to yet another question. The planet itself. Again, she wondered where exactly they were. Was the force field enveloping an entire planet, or did it only cover a smaller portion of a planet? So many questions. What they needed, for a change, were some answers.

The room stopped shaking and Sam looked back at the monitor screen she'd been looking at a moment before. She glared at the screen and the Russian characters moving across it. The last thing she'd wanted to do had been to have to ask for Daniel's help. But she knew as well as Colonel O'Neill did that they were in trouble and needed to find a way out of this place. There was only so much she could do without being able to read the fine print. So she went back to the wiring. She and Teal'c had been working hard to put things together again. There were a lot of wires that were disconnected. She had the impression that someone had purposefully taken things apart.

Teal'c handed her a coil of green wires. "Major Carter, these were concealed beneath a sheaf of papers."

"Ok. I guess add them to the pile. Did the papers indicate what the wiring was for?"

"Not that I was able to ascertain. Although these do appear to be schematics of some sort." He spread them out on the counter.

Sam peered at them and said, "These look a lot like this machine." She waved over her shoulder at the machine she believed was the weather machine. "I wonder if I can figure out how it works based on this. I have _got_ to find a way to shut it down."

Teal'c nodded.

* * *

><p>"<em>Dougrae<em>?" Jack asked incredulously. "He said his name was Dougrae?"

"Yes."

"Crap, Daniel, Dougrae was the guy who took _over_ for the Goa'uld. You and Carter thought he might actually be a Tok'ra. He's the guy responsible for this weather." He fingered his radio and quickly updated Carter and Teal'c on this new development. Finishing, he looked back at Daniel. "She seems to think she can turn off the weather machine with your help. You sure you're up to a hike?"

The very thought of moving was enough to make him want to die, but there were apparently a lot of people in trouble; including SG1. At least that's what he gathered from what Sam had said. He remembered them talking about these people, the Kamyen Obyet, but he was struggling to remember exactly how they fit into the grand scheme of things, or how they were in danger. Even with Jack's not so subtle attempts to jog his memory, he still couldn't keep things straight. Jack didn't look convinced at all of his abilities, so Daniel took a deep breath and rolled onto his side. Action typically worked better than words.

_Oh boy._ The room, already blurry and dim, turned to black.

"Daniel?" Jack asked in concern. He hadn't expected him to just suddenly roll over like that. He hadn't thought it possible, but Daniel had actually gone another shade paler.

Daniel was concentrating all his efforts on just keeping breathing. After a minute, he risked opening his eyes again. It would be great if Jack would stop jumping up and down and spinning around in circles. Slamming his eyes shut, he couldn't quite stifle a moan. _That_ wasn't going to do anything to convince Jack he could make it.  
>Jack just held his tongue and waited. He hated this. After a few silent moments, Daniel finally managed to open his eyes again. He looked like he was going to be sick.<p>

Jack shook his head, "We are not going anywhere."

Daniel looked at him steadily and said firmly, "Just shut up and help me."

* * *

><p>Teal'c opened the door of the lab and slipped out into the hallway. From Colonel O'Neill's last report, it sounded as if there was a definite chance they could have company at any time. Judging from what O'Neill and Major Carter had experienced the previous evening, Teal'c knew that there was a strong possibility that the Goa'uld, or Tok'ra, Dougrae could be in the castle and observing them. He had been attempting to assist Major Carter with her work, but there was only so much he could do. They decided that it would be good for him to have a better view of the hallway and keep watch from there. The last thing they wanted was to be caught off guard. Additionally, he also wanted to be able to offer his assistance to O'Neill and Daniel Jackson should it be required.<p>

Stepping into the hallway, he pulled the door closed again. The hall was much colder than the lab, and filled with the whistling wind. Their location was farther up the hall from where the explosion from the night before had destroyed the outer wall and a section of the inner wall. A glance in both directions revealed the hall was completely empty. Teal'c did not allow his guard to drop, however. An empty and quiet hall did not necessarily mean that it was safe. A sudden quake shook the building and he braced himself against the wall. Major Carter believed the planet itself was potentially being torn apart by the violent weather patterns. He was inclined to agree with her; it wasn't the first time they had experienced technology that interfered with the weather. Medrona came to mind, although the purpose of the Touchstone had been to protect _against_ severe weather, not create it.

A sudden scraping noise had Teal'c spinning to the right, staff weapon at the ready. The hall remained devoid of life. The sound had come from the opposite direction of the explosion and the transporter. Teal'c took a few steps forward, listening closely. He heard it again and cautiously peered into the room. In the far corner, he could see the pack of rats, as O'Neill termed them. Some were rolling in the dirt on the floor, others nibbling at some crumb they had found. He was about to leave when something caught his eye. He frowned. There was something there...on the floor. Walking over, he swept the rats away with his foot and leaned down to look closer. There was a leak from somewhere and the rats had been drinking from a small puddle on the floor. The puddle had smeared the dirt and revealed a familiar pattern on the floor...

* * *

><p>"Jack."<p>

Daniel's desperate voice broke through the silence. Jack felt him stumble and looked at his friend closely. They'd only made it about half-way to the transporter and it had taken them an excruciatingly long time to even get that far. They hadn't spoken one word since Daniel had told him to shut up. It had been rough going and Jack knew they had to take a short break. Daniel's strong grip on his arm was almost painful, but that was the only thing that was strong right at the moment. Jack helped Daniel to the ground as his legs went out from under him.

"Easy, Daniel, easy." He leaned him back against the wall and put out a hand to check his pulse, noting that his skin was cool and clammy. His eyes were closed and his breathing was ragged. Jack shook his head. He watched Daniel for a few seconds, and then hit his radio. "Carter."

There was a long silence, then her voice came back, "Yes, sir?"

"Hey. How're you guys doing?"

"I'm still attempting to establish how the machine controlling the weather operates. Teal'c found some schematics."

"Ok. We're on our way. But we're going to be a bit late."

"Understood, sir."

Jack sat back against the wall next to Daniel just as another quake shook the hall. The only thing he could find to be thankful about at the moment was the fact that nobody had shot at them. _Yet._ His mind turned back to the previous evening and the new issues they were facing. He and Carter had caught Teal'c up on their experiences and findings after they returned from their trek the night before. Tormic and Daniel had already fallen asleep by that time. Of course Tormic wouldn't have gotten much from the conversation. His Goa'uld vocabulary was more of the tourist version, not the cloak and dagger edition. And there hadn't been a lot of point in Jack even bothering to tell Daniel what had happened; he'd gone through it with him earlier in the morning and Daniel hadn't even remembered the _conversation_ two hours later, let alone any of the pertinent information. Carter and Teal'c had agreed that they had to focus on the lab and finding a way home before anything else happened.

"How much farther?" Daniel suddenly whispered, breaking Jack out of his thoughts

"A bit." Jack answered, seeing Daniel turn his head slightly and look up at him. "You gonna make it?"

Daniel didn't answer. He just waved his hand weakly and started to push himself to his feet. Jack grabbed him and helped pull him up; listening ruefully as Daniel tried to muffle his groans of pain as he tried to straighten up against sore muscles. He'd stiffened up a lot in the last day and a half. Jack had seen the bruises all around his chest and back when Carter had checked him out more thoroughly. From the attack by the _Sha_ to the fall into the outbuilding, Jack wasn't at all surprised that he was bruised and sore all over. Wrapping his arm around Daniel's waist again, Jack looked ahead to the transporter. That last stretch was a killer and they practically fell into the transporter. He wasn't sure Daniel was going to stay upright. Keeping his hold on Daniel, Jack hit the button to take them to the level with the lab. Daniel was fighting to control his breathing, and to stay upright, Jack could tell.

Thankfully, an instant was all the time it took before they arrived at their destination. Jack pulled Daniel out of the transporter as quickly as he could. The rain and wind were hitting the area and there was a lot of rubble to trip over as they attempted to get away from the elements. They struggled over the rocks and masonry. Helping Daniel maneuver around the debris, Jack was thankful that they didn't run into anyone or anything as they headed to the lab. Neither of them was exactly going to be able to fight at the moment. Reaching the door, Jack shoved it open unceremoniously and Carter looked up in surprise from her seat at a workbench across the room. Their entry startled her and brought her to her feet.

"Sir!" She exclaimed, rushing over to them.

Jack felt Daniel sliding to the floor again and was grateful Carter was on her way to assist. Just before Daniel hit his knees, he said very matter-of-factly, "I think I better sit for a minute."

Jack snorted, "Ya think?"

They helped him to the ground and somewhere along the way, he evidently decided that he should actually _lie _down for a minute because he kept going until he was huddled on his side on the floor, eyes squeezed shut. Sam immediately reached out to check his pulse and leaned down to try to look him in the face, her head almost on the floor too. "Daniel, can you hear me?"

"Oh yeah. Stop yelling."

Jack smiled as her head snapped up to look at him. He shook his head and said very softly, "He's been complaining about how loud I am all day."

"You _are_ loud, Jack."

"Oh hush up. Your head hurts.

Daniel just groaned.

Sam looked back down and tried to be more quiet when she spoke, "Daniel, I'm so sorry to have dragged you up here."

"Think he was doing the dragging." Daniel pointed a finger in Jack's general direction. He forced his eyes open, and then decided the world looked a lot better with his eyes closed. He tried to control his breathing, "It's ok. Just...just give me a minute..."

Straightening up as Daniel tried to avoid puking or passing out, Jack wasn't sure which, he glanced around the room. Tormic smiled at him from the opposite corner where he stood, balanced on one foot, at an awkward angle between two terminals; hanging onto a bundle of protruding wires from the one on the left, and holding some sort of device to the other. He looked like a suffering saint, but he also looked like he was going to lose his balance soon. Jack looked at Carter. She hadn't taken her eyes off of Daniel who looked like he was apparently still trying to decide if he wanted to throw up or not.

"Oh, Carter."

"Sir?" She still didn't look up.

"Carter. There a reason you've got Tormic contorting in the corner?

_That_ brought her head up in a hurry. "Oh, boy."

Jack smiled a bit watching her scurry over to the workbench she'd been at when they entered the room. She slammed a few buttons and then looked over at Tormic with apology on her face. She waved at him. He let his arms fall, and Jack's eyes narrowed. Funny thing, but the guy looked...

"Is he _singed, _Carter?" Jack asked with as much restraint as he could manage. Tormic was rubbing his hands together and smiling, but Jack could've sworn he saw smoke rising from his hair.

Carter looked at him with defense on her lips, "He was helping."

"Helping you electrocute him?"

"I needed a connection between those two ports..." She started off again and the next five minutes were lost to Jack in a haze of technological mumbo-jumbo.

He could tell she was stressed and worried, so he just nodded and acted like he understood what on earth she was talking about. She turned around and pointed at the monitors, going on and on. Jack took that opportunity to sneak a peek down at Daniel. He had brought his fists up to press against his head and looked every bit as miserable as Jack was sure he felt. Looking back at Carter, he met her eyes as she turned back around. She had seemed much better when she'd left earlier in the morning; but he could feel the tension radiating off of her. And she looked a bit ill. Who was he kidding? She looked awful, pale with dark circles around her eyes, voice that was constantly hoarse from coughing. She sighed.

"That's why I need help." She finished, softly, with another guilty glance down at Daniel.

Jack nodded, "That's why we're here, Major. To serve and protect." He glanced around the room and frowned, "Speaking of _protect_...I'm not a mathematician or a physicist, so forgive me if my math is wrong...but I'm counting the warm living bodies in this room and I'm coming up one member of SG1 short. Where's Teal'c?"

Sam frowned, "He didn't meet you in the hall?"

"No." Jack paused, that familiar sense of dread sweeping over him yet again. "No, he didn't. I take it he was supposed to."

"Yes, sir. We figured someone should be keeping a careful watch out there after what you told us earlier. He was planning to meet you guys and..." She bit her lip. The worry increased, "You didn't see him?"

Jack was already adjusting his grip on the P90. "Nope." He turned to the door. "I'll be back."

"Yes, sir." Sam said in resignation, holding her own weapon at the ready.


	27. Chapter 27

Once Teal'c recognized what he'd discovered, his first move had been to go for his radio. Just as he started to lift his arm, however, he was interrupted by a voice behind him.

"Do not move, Jaffa."

Teal'c did as the voice speaking Goa'uld instructed. He started to curse himself under his breath for somehow having missed the presence of someone else in the room, and then realized he hadn't missed anything; he was being played. He was completely certain that there had been no one hiding in the shadows when he'd entered the room; he was just as certain that no one had entered the room since he'd been inside. Although he knew he was still far from completely at his best, he wasn't so far gone that he'd make a mistake like that. No, the voice that was speaking to him was disembodied, not in the room at all. Still, he remained unmoving, waiting. He spoke up and asked in Goa'uld, "Who are you?"

"I have been known by many names. The people who once loved me and were grateful for my protection and innovations called my Boorya." Teal'c could hear the bitterness in the voice, "I am also called Dougrae."

"You are a Goa'uld."

The voice, though obviously weak and old, nonetheless took on an arrogant air. "I am no Goa'uld. I speak that name only when rejoicing in the falling of yet another cursed one."

"Then you are a Tok'ra." Teal'c said with certainty.

"Yes. A Tok'ra. A crusader in the fight against the fallen ones and their cursed reign of destruction. Many lifetimes have I spent in the battle against the cursed ones."

"What do you want of me, Tok'ra?"

"I want you to step into the Great Circle."

"You have no way to compel me to do so." Teal'c said, turning to face the marble-like device set into the wall. There was no noticeable change in the device. It was not glowing or in any other way suggesting it was active, but that was clearly where the voice was coming from. As he had suspected, it was apparently some sort of communication device.

"Oh but I do. I can, with one touch of a button, release a toxic gas which will kill your friends in the most painful way possible." The disembodied voice was smug.

Teal'c recalled what O'Neill had mentioned finding in the lower level; evidence of some sort of a chemical weapon. A chill settled over him, realizing Dougrae spoke the truth. So he stared at the marble and inclined his head.

"Yes, it is good that you believe me. I have nothing to lose. Step into the Great Circle."

Teal'c did so and immediately was enveloped in a flash of light...

* * *

><p>"Teal'c, come in." Jack hit the button on his radio as he reached for the door. He waited fifteen seconds, then yanked the door open. Dead silence. On the radio, and in the hallway. Knowing his imagination was already running away with him, Jack couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. Maybe Teal'c was just engrossed in something. The hall was empty except for the rain that was still pouring in through the damaged room. "Oh, Teal'c. Would be good to know where you are, buddy."<p>

Jack headed back down toward the damaged area. If Teal'c had been coming to meet them, maybe he was down that end of the hall. He braved the pouring rain and extreme winds to peer into the damaged room. Empty. Tripping over a portion of the wall, Jack moved past the room. His search of the hall yielded no results. The room at the end, the one with the "hot water heaters" was also empty; and as close as he could tell, undisturbed. Frowning, he turned around and stared back down the hall. Might as well go to the other end and see if Teal'c found anything of value down there.

He hit his radio, "Carter?"

"Sir?"

"No sign of him yet. I'm going to try the other direction."

"Copy that, sir."

As he passed the transporter, Jack had a passing moment of concern that Teal'c might have used the transporter to go somewhere else. He shook his head; Teal'c would have let them know. He wouldn't have just gone off somewhere on his own. _Unless he had no choice..._

* * *

><p>"Sam?"<p>

Sam stopped staring at the door and wondering what was happening outside. She turned her attention back to the here and now. Glancing at Tormic who was leaning up against a workbench, looking uncomfortable and lost, Sam tried to give him a reassuring smile. She knelt next to Daniel who was looking up at her questioningly. "Hey, Daniel."

"What's going on?"

"Colonel O'Neill just went to look for Teal'c. How are you doing now?"

"Oh, you know."

"Yeah." She thought he looked awfully uncomfortable. But it wasn't like there was anything more comfortable in the lab to offer him. "Have you taken anything for the pain lately?"

He gave her a tiny smile. "You're asking _me_?" His hands were still pressed against his head. "You're just lucky I remembered your name."

"Point taken." Sam smiled. "How about some Tylenol and water anyway? I don't think you're going to overdose or anything."

"Not right now. Just help me get up to the monitor."

"At least try something to drink. You're really dehydrated, Daniel. You've got to try or you're not going to get any better." Sam decided it was time to channel her inner Janet and grabbed her canteen, adding a packet of orange drink mix she had saved from a MRE. She shook it up and met Daniel's disapproving expression. She cut him off before he could speak. "One step at a time. Sit up, drink this, and we'll see how you do."

He didn't look happy, but he let her help him into a sitting position. Wavering unsteadily, he had no choice but to accept the canteen she was pushing into his hand. She grabbed his shoulder and kept him upright as he took a drink. _Yep. Bad as I remembered._ He looked accusingly at her, "You could have saved me something other than orange."

"Sorry. Luck of the MRE draw. Keep drinking."

"I'm not ten, you know."

Sam just kept glaring.

Daniel gave the canteen a shake. "I never was very into Kool-aid."

"I don't want to hear it, Daniel."

Daniel tried to hide his smirk. _Boy, was somebody on edge._

"You haven't eaten anything in three days and you're barely drinking. You don't need to get any more dehydrated and you need the calories. Drink it." She glared at him once more for good measure, and then looked back over at the door.

"If I drink it and finish my homework, can I play video games till Dad gets home?" Daniel couldn't help himself. Sam was _way _too tense.

That brought her head whipping around. She saw his smile and a knot of tension relaxed in her chest.

"Love you, mom." Daniel said, taking another sip of the awful orange stuff.

Sam snorted. "Love you too. Now, will you just behave; I have enough to worry about right now." She took a deep breath, glad he'd been trying, but not happy with how little he had actually managed to drink.

"Later." He pointed in the vague direction of the monitors and workbenches. He could only make out some dark shapes in the distance, but he had a feeling that was where all the activity would be focused. "Help me up."

"Help you..." She shook her head, "Not yet."

"Yes yet. That's why I'm here. I was tucked up cozy in bed earlier so I'd really love to solve your problems and not sit here on this very cold floor any longer. Faster we get things figured out, faster we all go home and get a good night's sleep."

She smiled briefly at his optimism. A good night's sleep was actually probably rather low on the list of things he _really _needed at the moment; IV fluids and an MRI or CT scan being top on the list. He was already trying to push himself upright, so she gave up and waved Tormic over. "Fine, but let us help."

Working together, they managed to pull him to his feet and help him to the chair in front of the monitor she'd been working on earlier. Slumping in the chair, Daniel tried to breathe through the pounding pain in his head and the nausea it was continually inducing. He gripped the edge of the desk and tried to stay upright. After a few seconds, he forced his eyes open. The monitor was swirling before him, but it would just have to do. He wasn't quite sure how to even work with the unfamiliar piece of equipment. Without turning his head, he asked, "Sam, how does it work?"

"Short version," Sam said, picking up a triangular blue crystal, "This seems to work like a mouse. Except, you move it across the screen to get where you want." She demonstrated and a new screen of text left his head reeling.

The words looked vaguely Russian, but the simple fact was: he wasn't going to be able to read anything. Everything was blurred and double. Jack had dug out his spare glasses earlier in the morning and he'd given them a try with no luck. His face was too swollen for them to fit comfortably; they hadn't done much for his vision either. So they weren't going to help now either. Sam seemed to notice his hesitation. "Daniel?" she asked, kneeling at the edge of the desk and looking back at him.

He tried to keep breathing as he slowly turned his head to look at her. "Sam. You said Tormic spoke this language, right?"

Sam nodded, seeing where he was going, "Yes! Maybe he can read it to you and you can translate for me?"

"That's what I'm thinking." He didn't remember talking to Tormic back on...wherever it was they had met the man...but Jack told him they had gotten along great. This was about the only option he could think of at the moment.

"Ok." Sam agreed, glancing around the room, "Do you want to lie back down?"

"No. I think I'd better not; might not get back up." He started to slide the chair over to the right, though. Sam helped him move it. "I'll stay here in case he needs help."

Sam watched him lean forward and lay his head on his arms on the desk. She turned and waved Tormic over. He was intuitive; she had to give him that. He brought his own chair and made a motion to the monitor and then to Daniel. Sam smiled and nodded. Tormic returned the smile and the nod and sat down, glancing briefly at the monitor, then to Daniel. Daniel looked at him sideways, without lifting his head from his arms. He started talking and Tormic immediately smiled and nodded. Sam breathed a sigh of relief. As long as there was a chance of them being able to communicate, there was hope.

Grateful that Tormic was smart and very capable, Daniel also felt relief flood over him. Tormic was already scrutinizing the display, not bothering to read everything out loud, but doing the synthesizing on his own, then giving Daniel the highlights. This was going to work great. Sam was hovering, ready to do whatever Daniel told her to do. Not that this setup wasn't without its own issues. This broken and very mangled version of Russian was causing a few issues in the translation. Daniel was sure that if he'd been at his best, he wouldn't have been struggling nearly as much. As it was, the process could be painfully tedious as he and Tormic threw words back and forth trying to find the correct explanation. Then, once they had it figured out, Daniel had to translate it out into English for Sam. Sam had to make sense of the technological gibberish he gave her and figure out what it meant in relation to the equipment in front of them. Tormic ended up doing as much running back and forth as Sam. He had to help her read the labels on the equipment.

Sam shook her head, "Daniel, that can't be right."

They had been struggling for several minutes with a particularly complicated section of the text. Tormic had tried everything he could think of to explain the words to Daniel. Daniel didn't have a clue what he was talking about and no matter what he said to Sam, she wasn't able to make any sense of it either. She shook her head at Tormic who was chattering almost frenetically as he pointed back and forth at two different parts of the device they had been working on. He kept touching things and Sam wanted to hit him.

"Tormic, stop!" She finally shouted, then doubled over with a coughing fit. She was reaching new levels of frustration. Eyes watering, she glanced back up at Tormic who looked every bit as frustrated as she felt. He was shaking his own head at her but at least his hands were at his side and he'd shut up. She wiped her mouth and shook her head at him, feeling bad for getting so annoyed with the guy who was doing his best to help. Taking a shaky breath, Sam looked back at Daniel. "This isn't working."

He just stared at her. He knew it wasn't working. Pushing himself upright, he dragged himself closer to the computer monitor. The words swam in front of his eyes as he tried to make sense of some of it. He didn't have a lot of hope that he was going to be able to make any more sense out of it, but they didn't have much of a choice at this point. Maybe if he could see the words, rather than just listen to Tormic speak, he could understand something. At least everyone was quiet. Quiet was good. He might actually be able to think. Even as he struggled to bring the words into focus and relish the quiet, it was almost immediately broken.

Tormic began shouting and came rushing back over to the monitor, pointing and gesticulating wildly. Sam came closer and began trying to make sense of what Tormic was hollering about. Daniel just wished they'd both shut up. The words on the screen had just started to make sense. Daniel was about to speak when they were all interrupted abruptly.

The best way Daniel could think of to describe it was a shock wave. One second he was sitting there listening to Sam and Tormic each attempt to out-shout each other. The next second, or so it seemed, he was staring up at the ceiling. The ceiling? He blinked, trying to make sense of the situation. His ears were ringing, but he could hear voices. An unfamiliar man's voice. And Sam's voice. She was screaming. Sam didn't scream. Even as he tried to puzzle through what was happening, Daniel realized he was flat on his back on the floor. He let his head roll to the left, toward Sam's voice. He couldn't see anything. Everything went dark.

* * *

><p>Teal'c found himself in a dark room. Pitch black to be exact. He waited for a moment, lest the disembodied voice speak again with further instructions. Nothing. Silence and blackness. Teal'c turned on his flashlight, his staff weapon at the ready. The flashlight helped, but not by a lot. It gave him a preliminary analysis of the room. Empty. It was merely an empty room outfitted with the ring platform. There was an open archway at one end of the room; the only way in or out apparently. Still not hearing anything from Dougrae, Teal'c headed cautiously for the archway, hitting his radio as he walked.<p>

"O'Neill. Major Carter."

Nothing but static. Teal'c frowned as he stepped through the arch and found himself in an exorbitantly decorated living chamber. If he had entertained any question of who the room belonged to, the familiar shape of a sarcophagus in the far corner opposite the opulent bed answered it immediately. Even so, his frown deepened. Dougrae had emphatically stated he was not a Goa'uld. Why, then, did he have a sarcophagus? Teal'c headed across the room, hearing nothing and seeing nothing threatening. It took him seconds to realize the sarcophagus had been destroyed rather efficiently. The symbols on the sarcophagus were those of Montu. So that cleared up who had been the original owner of the device. The next question was whether or not Dougrae had utilized it before it had been destroyed. Teal'c turned and completed a quick circuit of the room. There another door which he cautiously opened.

The stench that met him on the other side was overwhelming. Death was nothing new to him, but he found himself breathing through his mouth to avoid the terrible smell. Bodies littered a once beautiful hallway. Picking his way through the bodies, he found his way into a huge room with a cathedral height ceiling. Just as O'Neill had described what he'd seen in the city below, Teal'c saw the scene of a great battle. He turned and headed immediately back. Having not run into Dougrae, or anyone else for that matter, Teal'c's priority was to return to where he had started. Why the Tok'ra had lured him down here was puzzling, but he wasn't going to waste any more time. Heading back to the room with the ring platform, Teal'c immediately searched for a way to activate the rings.

He felt a growing sense of dread when he realized there was no way to activate them. The sense of dread only grew as he felt the ground shake suddenly.

* * *

><p>The end of the road.<p>

Jack glared at the stone wall as if it were the cause of his current frustration. Turning around, Jack took one last glance around the room. It was the last room down the hall. Every room he had checked had been conspicuously empty. He hadn't even seen the rats. All of his calls to Teal'c had gone unanswered. This was not at all like Teal'c and Jack knew with complete certainty that something was far wrong. The good news was that he hadn't come across Teal'c's bloody body in any corners.

The bad news was that he hadn't found Teal'c's_ alive _body either.

Jack was about to head back to the lab when he caught a flash of lightning through a window. He walked over to the window and took a quick glance outside. _Oh that can _not_ be good._ Jack thought he'd seen it all. Really. He had thought that once, many years ago, before he stepped through the Gate. He knew better now, though. He'd never in his life seen anything like the storm that was raging outside. There was no way it could have gotten worse; yet it had. The lightning was flashing almost continuously so the world outside the window was lit as if it were bright daylight. A sickly greenish daylight. But that light only served to illuminate the surreal destruction that was occurring. There were at least five tornados racing across the landscape. Five that he could _see_. The flood waters were now beating against the lowest walls of the city and the once lush forest was nearly completely decimated by the gale force winds. Even as he found himself transfixed in awe, he knew he was about to die. Turning to sprint back towards the hall, he hit his radio to call the others. Thinking he stood a chance, Jack ran as fast as he could.

He didn't run fast enough...


	28. Chapter 28

Well. _Dead _was surprisingly a lot like _alive_. Jack groaned and rolled over. That had been painful, but actually less painful than he'd been imagining. When he'd seen that wall of wind, debris, and tornado heading toward the window, he really hadn't been expecting to live through the experience. But he had, for better or worse. Just felt like he'd been standing too close to a jet going Mach 1. His ears were ringing and his nose had bled a bit. The strangest thing now was the silence. After the howling of the wind and the deafening pounding of the rain, it seemed totally anticlimactic to be experiencing such utter silence. It was surreal. _Like this whole trip..._

Sitting up against the wall, Jack immediately took stock of his surroundings. He was in the hall, where he'd been headed, but there was a surprising lack of debris and destruction around him. The hall looked exactly as it had earlier. He looked back into the room and saw that the outside wall had indeed been shredded. The debris was piled in the room, the floor several inches deep in murky water which was, even now, flooding out into the hall. Jack quickly got to his feet before he could get soaked. He frowned, walking back into the room. Mystified, he found himself staring through a gaping hole out to the landscape beyond. The storm was every bit as furious and violent as before.

But some sort of a clear wall, or force-field, or shield, or _something_ had sprung up where the wall had once been. Jack stared at it, unable to pull his attention away from the incredible sight. Of course, he couldn't help but feel slightly anxious as to whether or not this delightful piece of equipment was going to hold up for long. He needed to show Carter this one. That brought him back to reality. He turned to the door, hitting his radio and trying Teal'c and then Carter.

Oh, that distressing silence thing again. Jack hadn't really been expecting to hear from Teal'c, but he _had _been expecting Carter's perky voice to answer him. He took off at a jog down the deserted hallway, realizing as he did that it sounded like the transporter had just activated in the distance...

* * *

><p>When the lights had flickered, Sam had been so caught up in arguing with Tormic that she hadn't really given it much thought. But when the room shook with what felt like a sonic boom, she <em>had <em>noticed. Especially when she found herself slammed against the ground. It took her a split second to pick herself up, shaking her head to clear it, wiping her bloody nose with her sleeve. Tormic was moving past her, his face alive with a shocking fury. As he moved, she realized, to her alarm, that he had a knife. She spun on her knees to see where he was going; she caught a quick glimpse of Daniel, flat on his back, nose bleeding and staring vacantly at the ceiling, then she realized Tormic wasn't going to attack either of them. _There was someone else in the room._

Still feeling slightly disoriented and dizzy, Sam used the table to help pull herself to her feet. Tormic and the other man were shouting at each other as Tormic approached him, knife held threateningly. Sam shook her head to clear it and analyzed the newcomer. Standing unassumingly a few feet inside the room, he was tall, maybe even a bit taller than Teal'c, but he was also thin, painfully emaciated. Dressed in royal blue robes, he was clearly someone important; or someone who had _been_ important, or at least someone who _thought _they were important. Sam wasn't sure which was actually the accurate description of the man. The only thing she was sure about was that whoever he was, he didn't have much longer to live. He looked like he might have been somewhere far beyond his one-hundredth birthday. Sam thought he looked a lot like the last Knight Templar from one of those Indiana Jones movies; she couldn't remember which one. Teal'c would have known.

But that was who this guy looked like, only much worse for the wear. He was hunched over, barely able to stand, his skin nearly translucent and more wrinkled than she'd ever seen on a person before this. The only thing that looked alive were his eyes. They were a deep brown and seemed to display his very soul. Sam met his eyes for only a few seconds and in that short amount of time, she could see years of agonizing pain and sorrow reflected in those eyes. She was shocked to the core to also see humor and what might actually have been a mischievous twinkle in the dark brown. Everything happened in those mere seconds. She had stood up and met the man's eyes at the same moment Tormic reached the man.

Tormic did not hesitate for even one second. He drove his knife into the man. Again and again.

Sam screamed in spite of herself. She was so shocked by the completely unexpected turn of violence from Tormic and so startled to find she didn't want the unknown man hurt. She didn't have a clue who he was, but he hadn't made any indication of wanting to do them harm. He didn't need to be brutally murdered. But that was exactly what Tormic had done. Sam took a deep breath, her P90 trained on Tormic who was slowly rising to his feet. The man he had attacked lay crumpled on the ground, bleeding out from multiple stab wounds. Those dark eyes had no life in them now; they stared out at her with a chilling emptiness. The body seemed to have shriveled even more just since it had hit the floor. Sam tore her eyes off of the body and looked up at Tormic.

The man was on his knees staring down at the body, his own eyes strangely empty as he seemed transfixed by the sight; blood dripped from his hands and knife to the floor. The furious anger that had been on his face mere moments before was missing, replaced by a somewhat curious apathy. Sam felt a shiver go up her spine. There was something very wrong about everything that had just happened. She wasn't sure what to do. Up until about thirty seconds ago, she had trusted, even liked Tormic. Now she had developed a healthy fear. He looked up at her.

"Drop the knife, Tormic." She said, grateful to have found her voice. He didn't reply but smiled a frightening smile, wiped the knife on his pant leg and slid it into his boot, then stood up, pulling something out of his pocket and slipping it onto his hand. Sam sucked in a gasp.

It was a Goa'uld hand device. And she recognized it. It was the one she had found back in the bunker. Her shocked eyes met Tormic's. He must have gone through her pack. She hadn't had the device out at all since they'd run into him. Suddenly, Sam felt violated and betrayed in more than one way. A smile spread across the man's face and Sam felt another chill run up her spine. Her finger squeezed the trigger of her P90 at the same instant Tormic's eyes flashed and he aimed the hand device at her...

* * *

><p>Jack chose to ignore that nagging feeling that the odd noise he had heard was the transporter activating. It was beyond the lab where he'd left fifty-percent of his team plus one. That was where he was starting. If anyone had actually used the transporter, they would be long gone by the time he got there and it didn't leave a forwarding address, so there was no point in even trying to go there. His primary concern was for his team and his primary goal was to attempt not to lose any more members of that team.<p>

Entering the lab, he realized he was too late. He was missing another twenty-five percent of his team. Plus one. With that knot of anxiety and frustration in his stomach that had not left him since the moment everything went to hell in a handbasket back on Kamyen Obyet, Jack hurried over to his remaining twenty-five percent. Daniel was sitting up, listing to one side with his hand against the edge of the workbench to hold him up. He looked a bit disoriented, but alert and he instantly looked up with his Beretta raised. He called out tentatively, "Jack?"

"Yeah Daniel, it's me. What happened?"

"He took Sam!" Daniel reached out his hand and grabbed Jack's arm, pulling himself to his knees. "I don't know exactly what happened..."

Jack grabbed Daniel and yanked him upright as he started to list to one side. "Who took Sam?"

"Tormic."

Jack cursed. He _knew _he shouldn't have trusted that man! He kept hold of Daniel and looked back across the room. And saw the body. _Huh._ OK so that was a new and unexpected development. He frowned at the husk that had once been a very old person. "Who is that?" He asked.

Daniel squinted blearily across the room. "Who is who?"

Jack shook his head. "There's a body near the door. Nobody I know. But he sure wasn't here when I left."

"I never saw anyone." Daniel said, pulling himself to his feet using Jack as leverage. "Sam isn't here, is she?"

"Nope. _And then there were two_." Jack muttered ruefully, helping Daniel stumble toward the body. "What happened?

"We were working on the equipment...I was trying to read something. Then... there was this, I don't know...pulse or something. I just remember ending up flat on my back. I heard Sam scream..."

Jack cursed again. That was not good at all. His Major most definitely did not scream. By now they were close to the body. Jack leaned Daniel against a convenient wall and then crouched down by the body. Whoever he had been...he had lived a long life. He looked like he was well past one hundred. And he had met a violent end. _Tormic._ Had to have been, Jack realized. Carter wouldn't have knifed the guy. She had her P90. Shaking his head, Jack studied the corpse. His blue robes were worn, but still rather vibrant. Clearly the man had been someone of great importance. He looked over at Daniel. "What do you think?"

Daniel was staring at the body somberly. He met Jack's eyes. "It's Dougrae."

Jack looked back at the body. "This is Dougrae?" It was actually a bit of a let down. After all of this time, somehow he'd been expecting to meet the guy in person. Oh well. "This is the guy who enslaved the Kamyen Obyet and created this weather?"

"He's the guy who attacked me outside the city."

"He's dead." Jack said needlessly, quickly searching the body. _Nothing._ He didn't have any weapons on him and he also didn't seem to have any unusual devices.

"We need to go after Sam. Where's Teal'c?"

"Also AWOL. I didn't find any sign of him."

Daniel glanced at the door, then back to the monitors across the room. He had no idea what had transpired. But he knew two things. They had to find the rest of the team and they needed to do something about the weather. He started to move back toward the monitor and felt Jack grab his arm.

"Where are you going?"

"Jack, I think I can get the weather to stop. I was so close before...was there an explosion?"

Jack shook his head, "I'm not completely sure what happened. The storm has reached epic proportions and I thought the castle was going to be obliterated, but some sort of shield came up. There was some sort of shock wave or something. Knocked me off my feet."

"Us too." Daniel nodded, then wished he hadn't. The world didn't need any more help in spinning out of control. He squeezed his eyes shut, grateful Jack hadn't let go of his arm. His thoughts were racing, "I don't think that we have much time."

Jack already hated the sounds of this. "Why?"

"If I was reading things right, the systems are failing."

"Of course they are."

"So if there is some sort of shield..."

"It isn't going to last much longer."

"We have to turn off the weather."

"That has to be one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard you say." Jack nodded, "Fine. Let's do it."

"Sam." Daniel forced his eyes open.

"I know." Jack hesitated. His first instinct was to run to the ends of the earth (or the galaxy) for his teammates. But right now, they had to face the fact that the entire world could be collapsing. They could all be dead very soon. This had to take priority, no matter how much it killed him. "Look, the transporter had activated just before I got here so I'm betting that was our renegade and his hostage. We aren't going to be able to track them." Jack hated even saying it. Left a bitter taste in his mouth. "We need to start by making sure this whole place isn't going to fall down around our ears. Then we figure out how to find Teal'c and Carter."

"Ok."

They made their way back to the monitors. Daniel dropped into the chair and looked at the monitor. The letters were swimming again. He studied it for several seconds, but no amount of squinting was helping. Just before everything had gone out of control again, he had started to make sense of the sequence. Now, it just looked like gibberish. He pressed his hands to his head.

"Daniel?"

"Just a sec."

Jack studied him closely and gave him a second. And another one. It wasn't looking good. He leaned closer to the monitor. He recognized the letters. There were one or two characters that were not Cyrillic, but most of it looked like the standard Russian alphabet. He studied Daniel who had his eyes shut. "Daniel. How about I try to read this?"

"Oh?"

"I may not be able to make sense of it, but I can sound the words out for you. I can be your eyes and you can be my..."

"Brain?"

"I was gonna say translator..." Jack countered, relieved that Daniel had been that quick on the comeback. That was a good sign.

"Ok. I was on the third box of text." Daniel waved one hand.

Jack studied the monitor. It took him a moment, but once he got started, he found it fairly easy to sound out the words. Most of it meant nothing to him, though there were a few words here and there that he was familiar with at least. He paused, "Anything making sense?"

"Yeah. Just keep going."

Jack read a few more lines.

"Jack, repeat that." Daniel sat up a bit more and again stared at the monitor.

Jack repeated the words.

Daniel pushed himself to his feet, "I think we have it."

Following Daniel as he made his way to the device that Sam had been tearing apart, Jack hoped very much that they did have it. Another quake shook the room even as they approached the device.

* * *

><p>Teal'c had been searching the room with, as the Tau'ri were fond of saying, a fine tooth comb. He was familiar with the ring technology and had seen many such chambers before. The issue was that there wasn't really a standardized place the controls were kept. And this chamber clearly was intended to be controlled by some sort of a remote device. That was what he really needed. That was probably what he wasn't ever going to find. The controls were there, though. He just needed to find them. For a moment, he stood completely still. He closed his eyes and took several calming breaths, allowing his mind to wander. Wander to other times and other places. Forcing the urgency of the situation out of his mind, Teal'c let himself relax and visualize the most likely places that the controls would be located.<p>

After a moment, he began searching again. It still took him a good ten minutes before he actually located the controls. The room was far older than most rooms he had been in, so it wasn't in the first place he looked. Thankfully, though, he did find them. A few more minutes of finagling with the very antique crystals, he was finally able to step back into the ring device. An instant later, and he found himself back in the room he had started in earlier. He rapidly surveyed the room for signs of life. Nothing. Even as he found himself puzzling over why the Tok'ra had made him use the ring device and then not shown himself after that, Teal'c realized there was something different about the room.

There was a startling brightness. Turning, Teal'c's eyebrows rose as he gazed out the window. There was stillness. Stillness and a pale glow of what could only be sunlight. Teal'c walked slowly to the window, awed both by the dramatic calmness and the awful destruction he could see. The world beyond the city was a world destroyed. There were few trees still standing as far as he could see. The flood waters still beat against the lower walls of the city. But the storm had ended.

Teal'c looked up at the sky. It still seemed to bear its own scars from the wild fury of the storm. The clouds filled the sky, but they weren't quite as black as before, and that pale sunlight was actually peeking through the clouds. The rain and wind had died down. Shaking his head slightly, Teal'c turned from the window. It was an amazing sight, but he had been gone from the team long enough. He needed to find them and ascertain their safety. He hit his radio as he headed out to the hall.

"O'Neill."

After a split second, he heard a very relieved voice, "Teal'c. Good to hear you. Where've you been?"

"Another area of the castle. I am on my way to the lab."

"Great. That's where we are."

A moment later and he entered the lab where he had earlier left Major Carter and Tormic. He walked inside and immediately noticed the body on the floor. Glancing at it briefly, he looked beyond and found O'Neill approaching him quickly. He looked very tense.

"O'Neill, what has transpired?"

"Gonna ask you the same thing." Jack gave Teal'c a quick rundown of what had happened.

Teal'c briefly gave his own explanation, then glanced back at the body. "I do not understand why Dougrae lured me to the ring device."

"He probably just wanted you out of the way. I'm guessing he wanted us all split up." Jack shook his head, "Didn't work out so well for him."

"Indeed." Teal'c agreed.

"So, you say the storm stopped?" Jack asked.

"It has."

Jack nodded, "Thank God." He called over his shoulder, "Hear that? You _were_ right about that button."

"Yes, I know I was." Daniel said without lifting his head from the workbench. _If you'd have listened to me the first time..._ But he couldn't be too hard on Jack. Their team translation had been good, but the controls had been a bit more difficult to work. They'd had a brief disagreement about which button was the one they actually needed to push. Important thing was that they had gotten the right one.

Jack looked at Teal'c. "Ok. Weather situation has been taken care of finally. Now we need to figure out what Tormic wanted with Carter and where they went."

"You don't think maybe she went willingly?" Daniel asked, sitting up.

Jack looked at him incredulously. "_Willingly_? You're the one who said she was screaming and that he'd taken her."

"Yes, but I don't know exactly what happened." He hated the fact that thinking was so difficult. "But her weapons aren't here, her radio isn't here. Her pack is gone. Maybe they went to work on something..."

"And left you bleeding on the floor." Jack shook his head, "Somehow I doubt it. Carter would _not_ have just gone off without letting us know what was happening. And look at good old Dougrae over there. Explain that one."

"Maybe Tormic killed him to protect Sam?" It sounded weak even to Daniel as he said it. But he just didn't want to assume anything. They had absolutely no facts. But it did seem pretty reasonable to assume the worst at this point.

Teal'c said, "Should we not attempt to follow them?"

"If you have any great idea of how to do that, it would be a wonderful plan. I didn't exactly see any way of finding out where the last train stopped." Jack said bitterly. The transporter had at least ten different dots on its control panel. Ten different places; nine of which were the wrong ones. How to narrow it down was the question…


	29. Chapter 29

Jack finished his rapid inventory of their weapons with a sigh. They were out of rounds for all the weapons except Daniel's Beretta. That left them with Teal'c's staff weapon, two zats and the blaster he'd found back at the bunker. It would just have to do. He looked up as Teal'c re-entered the lab. The Jaffa shook his head somberly. So he hadn't found any signs of where Tormic and Carter had gone. They were fairly certain they had used the transporter and Teal'c had gone to do a preliminary examination to see if there was any way to track them.

_Apparently not._

Jack glanced once more at the corpse. He had done an additional search of the dead man's cloak and clothes just in case he'd missed anything. Nothing. He did feel confident the man had been the mysterious Dougrae; he found a bloody wound on the side of his head consistent with what Daniel had said about having shot him. What concerned Jack now was the unanswered question of whether or not Dougrae the _snake_ was as dead as Dougrae's former _host_ was currently. He didn't exactly have an MRI machine nearby to examine the body. Jack sighed again as Teal'c clipped on his pack. Picking up his own pack and setting aside his now worthless P90, Jack stood up and crossed the room. He pulled out some Vicodin as he walked.

Daniel was still sitting at the workbench, his head down on his folded arms. He mumbled something as Jack approached. Jack dropped into the chair next to him. "What?"

"What?"

"What did you say?"

"Are we ready?"

"Yes. You up to this?"

Daniel didn't answer, but pushed himself upright with difficulty. It had been a stupid question, Jack reflected. He knew he wasn't up to it, but they didn't have a choice. He didn't want to drag Daniel all over creation; but he wasn't about to leave him either. There were still too many unknown, and known dangers, in this place and Daniel wasn't really in any shape to defend himself. Jack held up the pills and grabbed the canteen off the workbench. Daniel took them wordlessly and put his glasses on with shaking hands. Handing him a zat, Jack helped pull him to his feet and kept a tentative hand out as they crossed the room. Teal'c nodded at them once they reached the door and led the way out. Jack glanced at his watch. It had only been about fifteen minutes or so since he'd first entered the room. Even so, that was a very long time when a teammate was missing...

* * *

><p>Sam woke up abruptly after a violent coughing spell jarred her from unconsciousness. She tried to catch her breath and figure out what on earth had happened. Everything was foggy but she did quickly remember the latest complication on their very complicated trip. She looked around and tried to figure out where she was. And more importantly where Tormic was. If he even <em>was <em>Tormic anymore. She had seen the flash in his eyes right before he had turned the hand device on her, so she was guessing that the man Tormic had killed had been Dougrae. Which meant that Tormic was now possessed by a renegade Tok'ra or else a Goa'uld. From her limited perspective, lying on the cold stone floor, she could only see a blank wall ahead of her. There was also silence except for her ragged breathing. Attempting to sit up, she found that her hands were bound behind her back and her right arm was numb. Her head was pounding, but not as bad as she might have expected. She knew what a hand device was capable of and she knew she hadn't had a full burst. Thankfully, it had only been a short burst and not apparently intended for torture, just intended to knock her out. Taking a shaky breath, Sam tried again to sit up. It wasn't easy but she managed to finally get upright with her back against the wall.

_Huh_. She hadn't really expected to find herself back in the library. But here she was, staring up at towering walls, unfamiliar alien writing and books. There were actually books in this library; that was what made this room different from the one they had discovered when they'd found Ernest Littlefield. Sam started working at whatever was binding her hand while she did a rapid assessment of the room. There was the same device in the center of the room, the one that apparently contained the knowledge of the Great Races. It hadn't worked, according to what the Colonel said. But it didn't look damaged, she mused, then got back to focusing on her situation. The room appeared empty and remained quiet, so she really needed to take advantage of this and get free and get out. There was only a dim light filtering through from the high windows. Even as she felt the binding bite into her wrists, Sam realized the storm had stopped.

For a moment, she froze and just looked up at the windows in shock. It was silent outside. The violent thunder, lightning, rain and other assorted natural disasters that had been ripping the world apart were quiet. Frowning, Sam almost held her breath, waiting for the rain to start falling again. Nothing happened. She wrestled with her bonds more and realized that she, Daniel and Tormic must have been on the right track with their efforts. They hadn't achieved anything when she'd been with them, so that meant that Daniel must have figured it out and finished the process after she had been taken. That was encouraging on several levels. But it, once more, brought her attention back to the fact that she'd been forcibly kidnapped by a man she had grown to trust. That brought out renewed resolve and a good deal of anger.

Sam bit her lip as she twisted and tried to reach the pocket that held her spare knife. Her pack, weapons and jacket all lay in a pile on the very far side of the room. Carrying a spare knife (or two) was just part of life and the position of the spare was supposed to make it easy to get to when tied up. But Tormic had done a surprisingly professional job of tying her up. She almost fell on her side and ended up coughing yet again. Breathlessly, she had to lean back up against the wall for a few moments. The weakness and misery had not left her. No matter how she tried to convince herself otherwise, she was still sick. Sam had just caught her breath and was about to start moving again when she heard an angry voice from somewhere above her. Looking up, she didn't at first see anything, but after a few seconds, she saw Tormic on a high balcony, books in his hands and fury on his face.

He was shouting and motioning frantically. A book slid from his grasp and he kicked it off the edge of the balcony. Sam recognized only a few things he was saying as he was talking in Goa'uld. He would shout for a while and then silently stare into the distance. Tormic shook his fist suddenly and then beat it against the end of a bookcase, punching a hole straight through it. Even as Sam took a shaky breath and tried to figure out what was going on, he pulled the bookcase down and a rain of books and shelves tumbled to the ground in a thunderous cascade. He shouted even more and turned back around the other way. Sam's eyes widened at his demeanor. It was as if he were having an argument with someone. Which would make all kinds of sense if he were having that argument with the Goa'uld or Tok'ra who now possessed him, Sam realized. Or it could be the Goa'uld or Tok'ra who was shouting. That might actually make more sense, except from the snippets of what she could decipher, it really sounded more like Tormic.

He had been screaming something about having had his world destroyed and the deceit of "your kind." That was the gist of what he was saying, anyway. Sam had learned a smattering of Goa'uld, but she was better at deciphering writing than she was at trying to understand what people were saying. As Tormic paced back into view, Sam held her breath. As soon as he'd stalked out of her view, she'd started reaching for her knife again. Now, she froze as he started looking around the room. Sure enough, he glanced down at her. The fury on his face dissipated somewhat and he turned and ran toward a staircase. Sam sucked in a hasty breath and desperately tried to get to her feet. She didn't have time to even make it to her knees before Tormic was in front of her, holding up the hand device. A little of her own fury leaked out through her expression, she was sure, but otherwise Sam stilled and waited quietly.

Tormic lowered his hand and knelt in front of her; suddenly he looked ages older and quite ill. He put his free hand to the floor as if he couldn't quite hold himself upright. He studied her silently for a moment, and then spoke up softly, "Major Carter. I am sorry for all that has occurred."

"You want to give me an explanation, Tormic?" Sam shot back, not feeling very sympathetic to the man at the moment. "We trusted you. What are you doing?"

Shaking his head slowly, he said, "I am not Tormic. I do not have long to be in control of him. I have been trying to reason with the man, yet he remains unwilling to listen."

Sam frowned. The voice was Tormic's; not that odd voice of the Goa'uld, "Who are you?"

"Dougrae. I am of those known as the Tok'ra."

"Dougrae." Sam repeated. "Why should I believe you? You don't sound like a Tok'ra."

A rueful smile touched his face, "I am too weak. It is taking all of my strength merely to fight the human long enough to have this conversation."

"I don't understand." Sam shook her head. She really didn't.

"You must listen very carefully, Major Carter. Tormic is fighting me even now and he may attempt to kill all of you once I tell you what I'm about to. I have only enough strength to subdue him enough to allow me control of his body; not enough to subdue his consciousness. So what I say to you, he will also hear."

Sam wasn't feeling very inclined to trust _Dougrae_ any more than she'd been inclined to trust Tormic. "Talk fast."

"You came through the Portal from Kamyen Obyet."

"Yes."

"You have been fed many deceits. They most likely told you that I had taken over for the despised Goa'uld lord Montu and subjugated them, kidnapping and terrorizing them." At Sam's nod, he continued, "I will tell you what truly happened. For many generations, Montu had ruled this world. I was assigned to his entourage and rose through his ranks until I was one of his most trusted advisors. Eventually, when the time was right, I led the Kamyen Obyet in a revolt against his tyranny. For many years thereafter, there was peace and prosperity.

"I assisted the people in reforming their world and lives after generations of Goa'uld rule. This place, T'zabt, had been Montu's personal domain and it fell to my guardianship. For a time, I was able to establish a sort of peace. At first, I was respected and revered by the Kamyen Obyet. We worked together to eliminate the last vestiges of Montu's tyrrany. The first few months were challenging as we battled the remaining Jaffa and rebuilt their society.

"It took time, but eventually the Kamyen Obyet were ruling themselves again. The Portal provided a means of transferring goods and people between the city and the rest of the Kamyen Obyet world."

"Tormic said you took over where Montu left off." Sam interjected. She wasn't sure at all who to trust at this point, but so far she really didn't see any reason to trust Dougrae.

"I am not surprised." The Tok'ra looked pained and clenched his fist, then shook his head. "I grow so weak. I have lived too long and seen too much."

When he paused, seeming to need to catch his breath, Sam frowned and asked, "Your prior host was very old. I assume you are even older?"

"I am. Ah, my host Boorya." A smile crossed Tormic's face as the Tok'ra reminisced. "He was a magnificent host. A scientist. He loved learning and had been exceptionally happy here in this place or knowledge. For him, discovering this repository of knowledge in this Ancient city was most satisfying."

Sam's eyes widened. "_Ancient_ city?" Even as she said it she wondered if he knew what she meant. When he smiled, she was sure.

"Yes, Ancient city; as in the other Great Race. You also know of the Ancients?"

"We've been in a place of knowledge like this one once before."

"For a few years, we enjoyed peace and were free to study this place and use our abilities to develop technology to assist the Kamyen Obyet with their survival on this harsh world."

"Technology like the weather machine?" Sam asked incredulously.

Dougrae looked pained again. "This world is harsh, rocky and cold; extreme weather patterns with deadly storms. Very little grew on this world before we overthrew Montu and created that machine. It worked perfectly on the other side of the Portal, did it not? Was not the climate and environment beautiful and temperate?"

Sam nodded slowly.

"I thought so. It is because of the T'valti that their world is as perfect as it is. We developed a T'valti for each side of the Portal to control the harsh extremes of the weather."

"It's not working well on this side."

"That is because it was sabotaged in the war. Before the war, this side of the Portal was just as lovely as the other side. The T'valti held these dreaded storms and wild weather patterns in check. Once it was sabotaged, the natural weather patterns of this world began again."

Sam shook her head and nodded up to the windows, "We turned the machine off and the weather went back to normal."

He smiled and shook his head, "No, I am afraid you are very much mistaken. The machine works to _control_ the weather, not create it. Whatever you did, you did it to a dead machine. It was merely a coincidence if the weather calmed after you worked on the T'valti. The weather outside that now is peaceful is merely a cycle of this world. The storms will return."

Sam's heart sank and she suddenly felt more discouraged than she thought possible. "So the weather isn't going to stay like this?"

"The storms will return." He repeated somberly. "This is why Boorya and I worked on the T'valti. We had to build two to control the weather on both sides of the Portal."

Sam frowned again, "So the Portal connects two places on the same planet?"

"Yes. The Portal was one of the great mysteries of this world that Boorya and I spent many hours trying to solve. He believed that the Ancient race that settled on this world built a canopy over this great city, leaving the Portal as the only means of reaching the outside world."

"But why build the canopy?" Sam mused, caught up in the mystery.

"This canopy affects time."

"How?"

"Time flows much more quickly inside the canopy. Months will pass within the canopy when only days pass outside. This is why Boorya and I aged so much."

"Why would anyone want to speed up time? Is there any way to turn it off?" Sam asked, curious about this new technology. "Why would you stay?"

"We were never certain of an answer to your first question. Boorya worked hard to decipher the writings he found here, but he was not very successful. As far as the second question, we found the control center, but we were unable to understand how it worked. To answer your last question, this was our home. Many of the Kamyen Obyet had lived here for generations. Time moves in what seems a normal pace when you are in the canopy. It is only when leaving the canopy that the difference in time is noted. Of course, we didn't have much of a choice in the matter after the war.

"The war broke out just over a year ago; a year according to Kamyen Obyet time. It has been nearly fifty years here in T'zabt. There were those of the Kamyen Obyet who had been in the service of Montu and did not find their lives as comfortable after he was eliminated. They started the war and many of the other Kamyen Obyet were easily swayed to fight in the war. The war that took so many innocent lives and destroyed this place. Many were forced through the Portal and all who were have been trapped here ever since. Most of the Kamyen Obyet and Jaffa who you no doubt have encountered were very young when we were trapped here. A generation has come and gone."

"We've seen many bodies." Sam mentioned.

"Yes. The war did not end when we were trapped here. It was a hasty event when the rebels destroyed the Portal and left us stranded here. A saboteur was sent to destroy the Portal on this side so there would be no way to return to Kamyen Obyet. However, many sympathizers were trapped here as well. So for many, many years the battles continued, the murders and mayhem. Tragically, the rebels had brought with them chemical devices that were used in their last offensive against us in this city." His voice cracked and a tear slid down his cheek. "My family died in the lower city."

For a moment, there was silence. Sam couldn't speak. He still could be lying, but she was beginning to believe him. She remembered the Colonel mentioning a group of dead down in the lower level. He had believed a chemical weapon of some sort had been used. So maybe there was some truth to what Dougrae was saying.

He finally regained his composure. "This only happened a month or so ago. That was the last stand and the last battle of the war. There is no one left now. So many died. Good friends; enemies that should not have been enemies. Senseless waste."

"The Kamyen Obyet said that all of this took place many generations ago."

"I am not surprised that they lied to you. You are from a world we do not know of and they are desperate for allies. They would want to solicit your assistance by any means necessary and would not want to discuss these dark matters. You seek allies against the Goa'uld?"

Sam nodded.

"So they would be more than happy to create a story that suits the situation and lures you into an alliance. They would never want to reveal the truth."

"Truth." Sam shook her head. "I'd like to know the truth; how am I supposed to trust you?"

He studied her for a few seconds. "This is a choice you will have to make for yourself. You have before you the facts." He pulled out a knife and freed her hands. "Now. You are free to go. Not that there is any where to go."

He sighed heavily and slumped against the wall, apparently completely spent.

Sam studied him and rubbed her wrists. She was torn. What he had told her made sense; but so had what Tormic had told them before they were forced through the Portal. She needed to get back with the rest of the team and discuss all of this with them. Looking at the man slumped in front of her, she couldn't help that feeling of dread that overwhelmed her again. He'd said the weather machine had been destroyed. He said the only way out of this place was the Portal. The Portal that was also damaged. There didn't seem to be any way to turn off the canopy. How were they going to be able to get home? She knew she needed to be moving, acting, doing something, but at the same time, she was incredibly tired and overwhelmed. So she took a few minutes to consider all the options. Perhaps she _still_ could get the weather machine to work. Maybe they could repair the Portal. There might even be a chance that she and the team could find a way to collapse the Portal. Of course, who knew what kind of trouble that could cause?

"Dougrae." She sat up straighter. His eyes opened but he didn't move, "Is there _any_ chance that the T'valti could be repaired?"

"I have spent years trying." His voice was growing weaker.

"Ok. So probably not." She'd already tinkered with it, thinking she'd fixed it. So her expertise certainly didn't seem to be likely to work. For a moment she was stumped, then a bolt of lightning lit the room and she was struck by a new thought. "What about the Portal?"

He shook his head. "You would never be able to reach the Portal through the ocean."

Sam frowned. "But is there any chance it could be repaired if there _was_ a way to reach it?"

"I don't know."

"I need to know where the device is that operates the canopy."

Sam hadn't expected the man in front of her to suddenly collapse. But that's exactly what happened. She immediately checked his pulse, finding it racing but present. It was the perfect moment to run. She should run. Right now. But she couldn't move. She needed more information and she was, quite frankly, still feeling terrible. Coughing again, she was about to stand up and go grab her gear, when she felt a grip on her wrist.

Looking down, Sam saw that Tormic's eyes were open again and they were full of tears. She asked, "Dougrae?"

"Please forgive me! I was wrong; we were wrong. I didn't know, I didn't know! This isn't what they told us!"

Sam frowned, "What? What are you talking about?"

He sat up, hand still gripping her wrist, "Major Carter, please forgive me! They lied to us, they all lied."

As he dissolved into tears and buried his face in his hands, Sam realized she wasn't talking to Dougrae anymore. "Tormic?"

He nodded, "I am most dreadfully sorry!"

She shook his shoulder to get him to look up at her, "Tormic! You need to calm down. What are you talking about?"

"I did not know. So many of us...they lied to us." His eyes glazed for a moment and he appeared to be hearing something. After a moment, he said aloud, "I have heard the truth from Dougrae. The Kamyen Obyet leaders lied to all of us. They made us believe the people in T'zabt were plotting a rebellion against us. They started the war. The war that need not have been started." He shook his head, "I am sorry for this deception and that you are now trapped on this forsaken world."

Sam studied him somberly. He seemed genuinely upset. _Now_ what was she supposed to believe? She asked, "Tormic, you told Daniel back on Kamyen Obyet that no one had seen the Portal activated for generations. Dougrae said it had only been just over a year."

He nodded, "That deception I was privy to. The elders told me to tell you all of that. I didn't understand. I didn't know. We were all frightened, though, when you activated it. It has not been activated since that fateful day. We feared you and your companions were of the same race as Montu. So we forced you away, fearing what you might do."

Sam nodded, "Ok, maybe I believe you. Why are _you_ here, Tormic?"

"After you had gone through, the Portal remained open. We weren't sure what to do about that, but the real trouble began several days later when the storms started. No matter what we tried, we could not close the Portal. The weather became so bad that the elders decided to send a team through to attempt to close the Portal from this side. I was forced through with them as this was all my fault. I brought you before the elders to form a trade alliance. They blamed me and banished me."

"A team?" Sam had heard everything he said, but focused on what might be a big problem. "You said they sent a team? Where are they?"

Tormic shook his head, "I am uncertain. It was chaos when we came through to this world. I made it out of the ocean barely alive. I never saw anyone. I wandered and wandered, lost and alone until I stumbled into you."

Sam nodded, "Ok. This team. How many? What are they prepared to do?"

"There were twenty men, warriors. They are prepared to do whatever it takes to close the Portal. They are also seeking the weapon that Dougrae helped them build that they used to overthrow Montu." He looked at her somberly, "Their instructions included killing all of you."


	30. Chapter 30

Teal'c slowly inspected the open area before stepping out of the shadows. He was back on the floor where they had discovered the apartments, the lake and the open eating facility. O'Neill had gone in the opposite direction, back toward the little apartments, while he was headed toward the lake. This was the second stop they had made on their search for Major Carter. The first floor they had transported to had been clear as far as they could tell. They had seen no signs of life so far, and even though they had just started their search, Teal'c knew O'Neill was gravely concerned and feeling that their search for their missing teammate might be unsuccessful. They were in a city full of labrynthine passages, corridors, and transporters. Even with his considerable tracking skills, Teal'c was concerned about his chances of finding Major Carter.

He moved past the "cafeteria" and closer to the balcony. Again, there was no sign of anything out of the ordinary. Teal'c looked over the edge, marvelling once more at the sight of the lake and waterfall below. He imagined that it would have been a beautiful setting if the sun ever shone in this place. It was a magnificent sight, even in the darkness. He started to turn back when he caught a glimpse of movement below near the edge of the lake. Ducking down below the ornate stone ledge, Teal'c took another look.

Two men were walking along the edge of the lake and Teal'c could see that both men were carrying very large weapons and were dressed as soldiers. Actually, the more Teal'c studied them, the more sure he was that the soldiers were dressed in the same uniforms he had seen on the Kamyen Obyet security team that had forced them through the Portal. He could not make out anything they were saying, but they were clearly communicating through some sort of device. So they probably were not the only soldiers in the city. He watched as they walked past the lake and into the darkness of an overhang. When they didn't return, he rose and headed back the way he had come. Kamyen Obyet soldiers in T'zabt. A missing teammate.

_O'Neill will no doubt be thrilled._

* * *

><p>Great, just great. Jack sighed. This most certainly did not thrill him. Just what they needed. More trouble. When he had reached the far end of the passage, beyond the little apartment where they had set up shop, and hadn't seen or heard any signs of Carter, he had been disappointed. But at least he hadn't run into anything troubling. Until now. Now, crouched in an alcove watching three armed soldiers saunter by, Jack was feeling even more pressured to find his missing teammate. He wasn't completely sure, but he was <em>almost <em>sure that those soldiers were from Kamyen Obyet. Great. That just opened up a whole new world of complications and worries. How had they come through and why? Only one reason came to mind...

But even that made him wonder. Why send a team to kill them? By all accounts, the Kamyen Obyet believed that a trip through the portal was a one way trip. So why send anyone else through? There had to be something else going on. He waited until they had moved well beyond him and then quickly headed back the way he had come. He stopped briefly at the little living area and grabbed the last of their gear. He shoved all of the food wrappers in a cupboard and hurried back outside. Deciding to take a chance, Jack used the zat on the door. He really wished the radios were working. He needed to alert Teal'c. But ever since they had fixed the weather machine and the storm had stopped, the radios wouldn't work. _Go figure._ The hall remained quiet so he was hopeful that the soldiers hadn't heard him zatting the door. But he figured it would be better for them to perhaps stumble onto a door that didn't open rather than discover that someone had been nearby. Of course, it wasn't like they didn't know SG 1 was on this side of the Portal, but he could always hope that they didn't know they were in T'zabt. Even as he headed back to the transporter, Jack wondered if they already knew where they were? What if Tormic was a spy?

* * *

><p>If it weren't for the vertigo, he could almost ignore the malicious, pounding headache. <em>Almost<em>. Shakily, he ran the back of his hand across his mouth. If it weren't for the vertigo and the nausea it was causing, he probably would have been able to keep down the Vicodin...which would have helped that malicious, pounding headache. Daniel sat back against the wall, exhausted. Even so, as bad as he felt, he actually was feeling better than earlier. It was a struggle to keep the nausea at bay, but he felt better after throwing up. If the _dizziness_ would just go away. He was so sensitive to everything at the moment; sounds, smells, light, noises.

The corridor remained quiet for which he was grateful. He forced himself to keep his eyes open, although he couldn't quite force himself to turn his head to look in either direction. He'd just have to trust his ears to alert him if someone was coming. Taking careful breaths, he took a moment to run recent events through his foggy mind again. He was still having trouble with short-term memory and this mission was a confusing series of disconnected events muddled up like a bad dream. But he was at least starting to be able to remember the most recent events more clearly.

Which left him once more worrying about Sam. He was still not sure exactly what had happened, but he remembered the feeling of a shock wave and then Sam's scream. They hadn't found any sign of her yet. He listened carefully for a moment, hoping to hear Jack or Teal'c returning. They had been dividing up to search more efficiently and he felt totally useless sitting next to the transporter. As much as he hated to admit it, though, he knew there was no way he could have gone with them. He was struggling to just stay sitting up at the moment. The waves of dizziness continued to assault him, forcing him to put his head down on his knees. It only helped somewhat to quell the awful spinning sensation. But at least his eyes were closed. He was going to allow himself sixty seconds to rest. Sixty seconds only...

* * *

><p>Jack came around the corner and saw Daniel sitting next to the transporter. When they'd left him to keep an eye on the transporter while they split up to search the area, he hadn't looked good. Jack hadn't really expected him to have improved much, but he had hoped that sitting still would have helped some. Back a few years, when Daniel had hit the floor in acute pain from what they eventually found out had been appendicitis, he had looked bad enough that Jack had been scared. Not just worried, but scared. Not that he'd ever admit it aloud. At the moment, Jack was <em>not<em> wanting to admit to himself that he was scared again. Daniel was barely tolerating the sips of liquids they were forcing down him. He wasn't going to make it much longer.

Daniel had his head back against the wall, eyes closed, but he brought up his arm immediately when Jack got closer. He had the zat at the ready and even if his hand was noticeably shaking, Jack knew he could still hit him.

"Hey, Daniel, it's just me, ok?"

Daniel dropped his arm.

Jack knelt next to him, instantly assessing the situation. "Vicodin was a bit much, eh?"

Daniel didn't open his eyes, just sighed heavily. Jack grimaced sympathetically and gave a quick rundown of what he'd discovered; including the new arrivals. "I can't help but think that our friend Tormic is part of all of this."

Jack positioned himself so he could keep a closer eye out on the area. Daniel opened his eyes a slit and watched him get settled. He could read the tension and concern on his face. Jack liked to be a sphinx. He liked to give everyone the impression that nothing touched him, nothing hurt him. He'd been working on that for a very long time...probably even before Charlie's death, Daniel mused. But they'd known each other too long, and seen each other at their best _and _their worst. Daniel could tell Jack was frustrated beyond words at their situation, worried about Sam and worried about him. If he didn't already know how awful he felt and exactly how bad of shape he was in, Jack's worried gazes at him would have worried _him._ As it was, he really wasn't sure how he was going to keep going. Everything was blurry and continued to vary between grey and black. He was hurting all over and it was only by great effort that he was able to keep from retching.

Jack felt Daniel's eyes on him and glanced over at him. "How're you doing?"

"Better."

Jack snorted. "You know...by now I really shouldn't be surprised at how good a liar you are. Considering the way you lied on that first mission to Abydos."

"I wasn't lying back then. I knew I could figure out a way to get us home. Eventually." Daniel smiled, "And I'm not lying now. I actually do feel better than earlier."

"Well you sure don't look better." Jack shook his head. "You want to try something to drink?"

"No, I feel better now that I threw up the last sip I had."

"You're gonna have to stop doing that. Carter is freaking out that you're going to die of dehydration."

"Somehow I think there are several, much more likely ways I might die on this trip."

Jack nodded; he couldn't argue with that. He turned his attention back to the hallway. Just as he was starting to worry, Jack saw Teal'c materialize out of the darkness. Rising to his feet, Jack realized that Daniel wasn't the only one looking worse for the wear. The Jaffa still looked pale and actually seemed a bit unsteady on his feet. It had been hours since his last session of Kel'no'reem and, from the looks of it, probably far too long in his current condition.

"O'Neill, we are not alone."

"Yeah, I saw that." Jack nodded, "I saw three guys poking around."

"There were two armed soldiers down by the lake."

"All right. I'm gonna assume that there are probably even more lurking in the darkness." He waved his thumb at the transporter. "We can't fight them right now; we've got other priorities. Let's get going."

"Indeed."

Jack looked back at Daniel, "Ready?"

Daniel took a careful breath and didn't feel in the slightest offended when Teal'c and Jack reached down and pulled him to his feet. He was feeling too sick to even try to pretend he could get stand up on his own. It didn't help when everything went black.

Jack felt Daniel slump and was thankful that Teal'c was also assisting. His left arm remained weak and it took both of them to drag Daniel back into the transporter. They guided him to the floor and Jack kept a hand on his shoulder until he was leaned up against the wall, breathing raggedly and holding his head. Once he seemed not to be going anywhere, Jack looked up at Teal'c and nodded to him. "Pick a floor, T."

Teal'c hit one of the buttons and the transporter flashed.

* * *

><p>Sam pushed Tormic behind her and brought up the blaster. They had been on their way back to the lab and she'd just reached out a hand to activate the transporter when the transporter activated itself. There wasn't time to run or hide, she just had to be ready for whatever was coming through that door. She wasn't at all expecting the door to open to reveal familiar faces.<p>

"Colonel O'Neill!" She grinned at the complete and total shock in his expression. She watched him lower the zat as a very tired but genuine smile crossed his face.

"Carter." He tried to rein in his utter joy at seeing her. There were more pressing issues at the moment than his personal feelings. "Carter, step away from Tormic. He's not who you think."

"I know, sir. But he's not who you think either. We need to talk."

"We do." Jack nodded, "Let's find a less public place, shall we?"

"The library?" Sam motioned over her shoulder. The Colonel nodded and turned back to help Teal'c get Daniel to his feet. Sam watched with concern. Daniel hadn't looked great when last she'd seen him and he certainly wasn't looking good now. His eyes were squeezed shut and his head was hanging. Sam motioned Tormic ahead and they headed back to the library.

Jack kept an eye on Tormic and wondered what had happened. He trusted Carter, with his life, but he really wondered what she had to say regarding the man. Once in the library, he headed to the nearest wall and they eased Daniel down to the floor. Carter immediately knelt next to him and checked his pulse. Daniel opened his eyes and patted her hand.

"Sam, I'm OK, really." He smiled and tried to reassure her.

She was far from convinced but nodded. The Colonel was radiating tension and hadn't taken his eyes, or the blaster's sights off of Tormic since they'd gotten Daniel settled. He needed answers and they needed a plan. So Sam quickly related everything that had happened to her since Tormic had kidnapped her. She could read the skepticism on Colonel O'Neill's face as she recounted everything Tormic and Dougrae had told her. She couldn't blame him; she really wasn't sure if she believed either of them herself. She ended her explanation with a coughing fit.

He had listened to Carter without saying a word. He had watched Tormic carefully the entire time and seen gut wrenching sorrow and dismay etched into the man's face. A face that seemed to have aged significantly in the very short while they'd been apart. Jack wanted to believe him; wanted to believe that Tormic and Dougrae were on the level and maybe even on their side. But how could he? They had been lied to and double crossed a time too many on this trip and he didn't want to be any more screwed than they already were. He looked from Tormic's guilt stricken face to Teal'c. The Jaffa was down on one knee, leaning heavily on his staff weapon and looking close to passing out. He met Jack's gaze with a questioning tilt of his head. Sam was struggling to catch her breath, watching him for his reaction. Jack glanced at Daniel who gave him a feeble smile and a shrug of his good shoulder.

Jack sighed and ran a hand over his face, realizing just how badly he needed a shave. He looked at everyone again and then leveled his stare at Tormic. The man seemed to shrink before his eyes. "Tormic. Why don't you take a hike. To the other side of this room. In sight. Just sit down for a bit and give us a chance to think, OK?"

There. That hadn't really been too uncharitable, now had it? Jack felt that he'd been quite kind to the man considering he didn't trust him and the man had recently kidnapped a member of his team. Tormic nodded and immediately got to his feet and dragged himself across the room. Jack looked back at Carter. "We met up with a few members of that little hit squad the Kamyen Obyet sent." Quickly, he gave her a report on what their search for her had revealed.

Sam frowned. "That doesn't sound good."

"Army searching for a weapon and out to kill us? No, not so good." Jack agreed. "Question is...what is our plan now?" He glanced over at Tormic who had slid down to the floor far across the room. He had his fists against his eyes. Jack shook his head, "Anyone trust that guy?"

"Which guy? Tormic or Dougrae?" Daniel asked softly.

Jack nodded slowly. "Exactly. Right at this moment, I'm not inclined to trust either of them."

"What choice do we have?"

Sam nodded, "Daniel has a point. We _don't _have a choice. Whether or not we can completely trust _either_ of them isn't really the point. They have both given us information, some of it may be accurate, some not. But we're trapped. I think we need to use great caution, but we should act on what we've been given."

Jack took a deep breath. "Ok. What exactly do you think we should act on?"

"For one thing, we need to keep those men from finding the weapon." Sam rubbed her forehead and tried to get her thoughts in order. "As far as other things, Dougrae was very confident that his weather machine was irreparable."

"What about you?"

"I don't know. If what he said was true, and what we did to it really amounted to nothing, then I doubt I'm going to be able to fix it. So the weather will only get worse and worse again. And this place is falling apart as it is." She looked around the room nervously and cleared her throat. "I would like to see the controls that Dougrae said ran the canopy."

"You think you can..." Jack trailed off, unsure where she was going with this, "I don't know...what exactly is it you think you can do?"

Sam smiled slightly, "I'm not really sure. I'm hoping that maybe I can turn it off. There is no way we're going to be able to return through the Portal, so the only way out of here is to get rid of the canopy that's holding us inside this place. Maybe we can get back to the Gate."

"Ok." Jack couldn't help feeling dubious. He wasn't about to burst her bubble by bringing up the fact that they'd have to face what was likely an angry group of Kamyen Obyet in order to get to the gate. So he skipped that issue for the moment and addressed the more pressing issue at hand. "So what if shutting down the canopy...I don't know, destroys the world, blows up the universe..."

"I don't know, sir." She really didn't. She was making this up as she went. If her head wasn't so muddled and her chest didn't hurt so much, maybe all of this would make more sense to her. She sighed, "We just can't stay here doing nothing."

"I realize that." He shook his head, clenching and releasing his fists. He looked back at Tormic who hadn't moved. Jack looked at his team again. It was an uninspiring sight. All of them looked pale, in pain, and utterly exhausted. He hadn't seen himself in a mirror lately, for which he was grateful, but he had this very strong feeling that he probably looked about the same as they all did. His hand still was sore, and somewhat numb, and his leg was screaming at him. He nodded. "Allright. We can't use the Portal. We can't stop the weather. We probably should avoid the killers and stop them from getting hold of the weapon and you need a look at the canopy controls."

"Should we?"

Jack turned to study Daniel. He had that '_are we really going to mess around with another culture's business_' look on his face that Jack had to admit he rather dreaded. This time, however, he doubted that Daniel was going to fight very hard. Jack motioned to him, "Should we what? Should we try not to get killed?"

"Should we keep the weapon from them?" Daniel said wearily. He knew that Jack knew that he wasn't up to fighting. "It is theirs after all."

"I think we should ask Tormic what he thinks they want with it." Sam suggested. If everything Dougrae had told them was true, she wasn't sure she wanted the Kamyen Obyet to have it either. "If they have an enemy they might need it."

Jack met Daniel's eyes again and could all too clearly hear him thinking about Euronda. Daniel merely shook his head and closed his eyes. Euronda had been one of the more disastrous missions they had experienced. It had been a hard time for all of them and repairing the damage to the team that time had taken quite a bit of effort. Now, here they were in a similar situation. They had inadvertently found themselves in the middle of a long standing and ugly war. A war that at least one side was still fighting. Jack shook his head again and looked at Teal'c. The Jaffa had remained quiet the entire time and his eyes were half closed.

"Ok." Jack interrupted the quiet. "Carter, lets ask Tormic, or Dougrae, or whoever whether that Ta-whatsit..."

"T'valti?" Sam supplied.

"That. Find out if that will be able to control the weather on Kamyen Obyet _and_ here. It would probably be a bad idea to drop the canopy, provided that's even possible, to find that the one Ta-whatsit won't cut the mustard. I'd like to try not to completely destroy this entire planet."

Sam nodded and waved at Tormic who had finally looked up at them. He looked like a man on death row. He slowly stood up and started to walk back over. "I need to ask him where to find the canopy controls anyway." As soon as Tormic reached them, Sam told him their tentative plans. "We really need to talk to Dougrae."

He nodded and the voice they heard was that of a Tok'ra, "I can show you where the control center is located. It is in the observatory. High up in the mountain. Not easy to reach. From this chamber, it will take us several hours to reach the observatory. I have not been up there in years and it will most likely be a more dangerous journey now that the storms have destroyed more of the city. But I can guide you there."

"Sounds good." Sam smiled, "I don't know that I'll be able to do anything more than you were able to do, but at this point, we feel it is our best option. Dougrae, if we were able to collapse the canopy, would the T'valti on the Kamyen Obyet side be able to regulate the weather of the entire planet?"

Tormic nodded and Dougrae continued, "Yes, it should. The only reason we built the second T'valti was because of the canopy. It was the only way to regulate the weather on both sides of the Portal. But one should provide the necessary control for the entire planet"

"Ok. Then that's our plan." Sam looked back at the Colonel for his ok. She was concerned at how bad he looked. He looked pale beneath the suspicious flush on his face and she was sure he was still running a fever.

He nodded slowly, then looked at Tormic. "I need to talk to Tormic now."

The man inclined his head slowly, blinked a few times and when he spoke, it was in the Russian accented voice of Tormic. "I am here."

"So. What does this little army want with this long lost weapon?"  
>Tormic looked a little uncertain. "Since the war, Kamyen Obyet has enjoyed peace and prosperity. There have been no other wars. However, there has been a shortage of natural resources ever since we were cut off from T'zabt. With the Portal closed, there was no way to retrieve<em> oulanata<em>, our energy source. We have small veins of _oulanata_ outside, but not nearly enough to supply our growing world. Here, _oulanata_ is found in large supplies. For some time there has been talk of attempting trade relations with a nearby world. However, the leaders of that world have been unwilling to work with us." Tormic looked unsettled, "I fear that the leaders of Kamyen Obyet are planning to begin another war."

Jack shook his head. "Great. So they want the weapon, not to defend themselves, but to launch an offensive against another place. So we destroy the weapon." He waited for any protests, but apparently everyone agreed with him; or else they were just too exhausted to care. He looked at Carter, "If we get this canopy collapsed, the Kamyen Obyet could get at their oola-not..."

"And they wouldn't have to go to war." Sam caught on. "It's possible, I suppose. But there's a lot riding on the outside chance of us being able to shut down this canopy." She looked at Tormic, "Dougrae said he'd worked on it for years without success. What are the chances we can do anything about it?"

Jack smiled slightly, "I'm not placing any bets, but I think we have a shot."

"Ok. So we head out and turn it off. What about the weapon?"

"The weapon is safe." Tormic spoke again, this time in Dougrae's voice. "We hid the device in the last, best guarded place in this city. There is, of course, a chance that the Kamyen Obyet warriors will be able to find the device. But it will take them time."

"So we need to take it out." Jack shrugged.

Sam nodded.

Dougrae spoke up again, "The Jaffa knows where the device is hidden."

Everyone's eyes turned to Teal'c. Teal'c raised one eyebrow and said, "I do not know of what you speak."

"You do. I led you there earlier."

Teal'c frowned, thinking back. He remembered being transported via the rings into a living chamber with a sarcophagus. He looked at Tormic. "You led me there for a reason, Tok'ra."

"I did. At the time, I was not prepared to trust the man whose body I now share. I had been observing all of you since you arrived at the tower on the barrier wall. It took some time before I was certain of your motives and what had happened to bring you to T'zabt. I was hoping to meet with you and gather more information from you. My plans changed slightly when I observed Major Carter in the laboratory. I decided I should probably lend whatever assistance I could." His face twisted in a rueful smile, "It was a mistake to have dropped in unannounced. My haste resulted in Boorya's death."

Jack frowned. He knew that name was familiar, yet in his slightly overtired mind, it wasn't quite registering. "Boorya?"

"His former host." Sam supplied quickly. "Tormic, he was a little angry..."

Having seen the viciously stabbed man, Jack thought that was a bit of an understatement. He frowned and looked at Tormic. "Yes. A little angry. Tormic, why exactly were you so angry?"

Tormic's head bowed and then he looked up again, as if seeing clearly again. Obviously, Dougrae had just relinquished control. Tormic's face took on an expression of sorrow and he spoke slowly, "I have never killed a man before."

"Why did you kill him?" Sam asked gently.

"The woman I loved. She died during the war. Most of the fighting took place here, but there was an initial battle on Kamyen Obyet. Azera died needlessly in a war that I believed Dougrae had started." There were tears in his eyes. "I have mourned her these many months, never dreaming that I would ever encounter the man I believed was responsible for her death. After everything I had been through, when I saw him...something snapped."

Sam raised her eyebrows. "I guess I can understand that, Tormic. How are you and Dougrae getting along now?"

Tormic smiled slightly. "We have had a lot of time to talk and get acquainted."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh good. So divide and conquer?"

Sam nodded. "Yes."

"Teal'c, you think you can find your way back to the place he was talking about to find that weapon?"

"I can."

Jack nodded. "Great. Carter, Tormic and I will head to this Observatory and do what we can to shut down the canopy. Teal'c, you and Daniel can go see about that weapon. _After_ you Kel'no'reem." Teal'c didn't even have time to protest before Jack continued, "No arguing. You look like you're going to fall over any minute. And you're not looking any better." He pointed a finger at Daniel who really didn't look like he was going to do any arguing anyway. Jack nodded. "Rest for as long as you need, then take care of the weapon. Clear?"

Teal'c nodded. "Understood."

"Good. Any other odds and ends, or questions we need to address before we head out?"

He was met by silence all around. Taking a deep breath, Sam smiled, "I'm really looking forward to getting home, sir."

Jack studied her for a moment. "Don't jinx us, Major."


	31. Chapter 31

When Jack did a thorough search of Tormic, or Dougrae, or whoever the heck he was, the man didn't protest at all; he seemed like a whipped puppy who'd given up the fight, Jack had to admit. Not that that really meant anything. He'd seen people before give the greatest impression of a grieving soul, distraught over their past sins. People who were actually dirty, rotten, intergalactic monsters. Oh yeah, a few of those sprang to mind.

So there was no way that he was going to go anywhere with a mystery man like Tormic/Dougrae without ensuring the man didn't have any weapons or suspicious objects on him. He came up clean. Carter had already confiscated his hand device. Jack had just shaken his head. Great. Now they had two head scramblers and not a single healing device. The healing device would have come in handy. They already had the hand device they had found what seemed like weeks ago. The new one, the one Dougrae had used on Sam in the lab earlier, was in better shape than the first one. Jack had left both devices with Teal'c and Daniel. Carter wasn't comfortable using the device on a good day, not that she couldn't if she really had to. But Jack didn't want either of those devices anywhere near Mr. Split Personality. He didn't trust _either _personality.

Jack shook his head, looking up ahead at the man who was leading them up over a heap of crumbled masonry. He didn't trust him at all. Sure, both Tormic and Dougrae gave some very logical and heart-wrenching reasons for their actions. Before they'd set out, Jack had sent Tormic away again for a few minutes so he could consult with his team.

_"So, I know we've got our plan of action plotted out," Jack had started, "but I need to know what you guys really think."_

_"I'm still not sure what to think, sir." Sam had shrugged, "I want to say I believe him..."_

_"Which him?"_

_"Both of them." Sam clarified, "Really, everything they said makes sense given what we've seen here. Right, Daniel?"_

_Daniel had just shrugged._

_"I believe, at present, we have chosen the best course of action available to us." Teal'c had added._

So that was where they had left it. Best course of action, until proven otherwise. Which was why Jack was following a man he didn't trust through a dark and moldy castle in an ancient _Ancient_ city, betting all his chips on Carter's intuition and smarts. He trusted her completely when she said she didn't think she could do anything about the T'valti. She had already messed with it, thinking she'd solved the problem. Clearly, Dougrae had been telling the truth when he'd said that the machine wasn't able to control the weather. The rain had already started up again. A gentle drizzle so far, but judging by everything they had seen, it wasn't likely to stay a gentle drizzle. He was very sure that they were not going to be able to do anything about the Portal. Teal'c had been certain it was irreparable and so was Dougrae. Even if it could be fixed, they still didn't have that submarine.

Jack tuned in as he noticed a conversation ahead of him.

"So this observatory, it's on top of the castle?" Carter was asking as she picked her way around the fallen stone.

Tormic nodded, pausing slightly ahead of her. He looked back and when he spoke, it was in Dougrae's voice, "Yes, Major Carter. We discovered it many years ago. It was once a beautiful location to sit and view the land. From the observatory, you could see in all directions. You could see everything under the canopy."

"Wow. That must have been incredible!" Her obvious excitement seemed somewhat dulled by her weary tone and intermittent coughing, "You say it once was beautiful. What happened?"

He waved a hand around, "What has happened to everything in T'zabt. Once the T'valti failed, the storms began their furious assault on the land. The observatory had been shielded and protected for many years, but the shielding deteriorated as the years went by. It was badly damaged in a storm cycle ten years ago and it was far too unsafe to return."

"What are the chances that there's anything left up there that we can salvage?" Jack asked.

"The canopy remains in place." Tormic said over his shoulder. "Therefore something must yet be intact of the device."

"And there might be a way to disable it." Carter added, then dissolved into a vicious coughing fit.

Jack hurried to her side and caught her arm as she crumpled at the waist. She'd been having bad coughing fits all the way along, but this was definitely the worst. Tormic paused up ahead, looking back, waiting. Jack cringed as Carter spewed blood onto the rocks. That was bad. He had not been at all under the impression that she was getting better, but he'd sure been praying that she wasn't getting worse. She was valiantly trying to catch her breath and stop the coughing, even as she continued to let him hold her up. Finally, she slumped against him, breathing raggedly.

Jack eased her down against the stone wall, his hand against her face. He could feel her pulse pounding in her neck and the heat radiating off her skin. She met his eyes and he tried to ignore the tears slowly tracing down her dirty cheeks. He wiped the blood from her lips with his sleeve, then reached up and smoothed her sweaty bangs back from her face. She gave him a weak, half-hearted smile.

"Looking good, Carter."

"All due respect, shut up, sir." she said in a ragged and breathless voice.

"Sorry, Carter. You are pretty hot, though."

That got him a surprised smile.

"I mean the fever, of course." He smiled. Sitting back on a chunk of what had once been the ceiling, he motioned to Tormic. "Pull up a rock." He pulled out his canteen, "We're taking a break."

* * *

><p>Daniel glanced at his watch for what seemed like the thousandth time. It had only been two hours. With Jack and Sam gone and no radio contact, it seemed like a lot longer. Sam hadn't been able to figure out why the radios weren't working and it left them all with a disconcerted feeling. The best they had been able to surmise was that something from the weather machine was now affecting radio transmission. But they hadn't had a choice. They were as good as trapped and now had the added threat of an army out to kill them.<p>

And they really wanted to get home.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned. He had actually dozed off for about twenty minutes right after Sam and Jack had left. Since then, he had been doing everything he could to stay awake. Teal'c was Kel'no'reeming a few feet to his left and he had only agreed to rest when Daniel promised to stay awake. Glancing at Teal'c, he sighed. The Jaffa looked terrible and Daniel could tell that he hadn't recovered as much as he liked to pretend he had. He could see all too clearly the wicked gash along the side of Teal'c's neck. His wounds were healing, yet they were not healing as fast as his wounds usually healed. He hadn't said anything, but Daniel had a feeling Jack's assumption that Junior had been injured was correct.

Leaning his head back against the wall, Daniel slowly let his eyes roam around the room. He didn't have his glasses on so he wasn't really seeing much, but he had seen enough earlier to realize that the room was extremely similar to the one where Ernest had showed him the four walls with alien text on them all those years ago. Daniel had read Ernest's journals over and over for weeks after that mission. He'd spent several evenings with Ernest and Catherine discussing all that Ernest had seen while he'd been trapped. He had been so incredibly disappointed to not have been able to spend more time on the planet. The journals had helped, as had the video he'd shot. But even though he gave up many hours of sleep, he hadn't really been able to decipher much.

Now, he was in a similar library. And he was in too much pain and far too exhausted to even consider moving at the moment. Which was killing him. All that knowledge, all those books. A massive compilation of a history of this world and he was not able to access any of it. Add to that the pedestal that contained the universal language and it was enough temptation to almost drive him crazy. Closing his eyes, he pressed his hands against his head and tried to relax. Even with his eyes closed, he felt the world tilting and spinning.

* * *

><p>"You have <em>got<em> to be kidding me." Jack exclaimed. "This is ridiculous."

"I believe I mentioned that the observatory was located in a very difficult place." Dougrae said in a monotone, "I may also have mentioned that, due to the storm damage, the observatory might be inaccessible."

Jack glared at the man. "I heard you, I heard you."

He looked back up ahead. Their path had not been easy before, but the hallway ahead was nearly buried. The walls of the corridor were about fifteen feet high and apparently, most of the floor above had collapsed into the corridor. The rubble was about ten feet high all along the right side of the corridor. There was no roof above now, allowing the gently falling rain to wash into the corridor. That was bad enough. The real kicker was the fact that the entire left wall had been completely destroyed. From where he stood, Jack could all too easily see the terrifying drop off. They were definitely at the top of the mountain and, despite the rain and blackness of the sky, Jack had a good view of exactly how high up they were. Too high. _Way too high_.

Jack looked back at Tormic and Carter. Tormic just met his look steadily. Carter was leaning up against a wall, breathing raggedly. She forced a smile and nodded. Jack shook his head. He looked back at the corridor ahead and wondered how exactly they were going to get safely to the observatory. The corridor was slick from the rain and the masonry was unsteady.

"There's no other way to get there?" Jack asked, in a last ditch effort.

"There is not."

Shaking his head, Jack knew he shouldn't have dared hope. He took a few steps back toward the others. No point in delaying the inevitable. "Ok. Shall we?"

Sam nodded slowly. Right now she just wanted to curl up and die. It had been a very long walk up here and she was having a hard time catching her breath. The wheezing had been getting worse and worse and ever since her coughing fit in the hall earlier, she had been feeling weaker and more unsteady. How she was ever going to make it over the over the rubble in the corridor ahead was beyond her. But they had no choice. So she tried to ignore the pain in her chest and the difficulty she was having just breathing and put on a confident face for the Colonel. He didn't look like he was buying it. She couldn't even speak up at the moment to try to reassure him. She simply nodded and waved her hand toward the corridor.

Jack sighed. Now came the hard part. Where was he going to put Tormic? He really

wanted Tormic where he could see him. Which meant he should probably put him out in front. Somehow that still worried him. Tormic could cause a rockslide...or something. Jack wasn't entirely sure what he was afraid of, but he hated having to rely on someone he didn't trust. But he certainly wasn't putting Tormic in the rear where he _couldn't_ see what he was doing. So he nodded at Tormic and pointed ahead.

"Lead the way, Tormic."

Jack thought he saw a bit of trepidation on his face, but he might just have been imagining it. He was feeling extremely suspicious these days, even by _his _standards. Which mean that Daniel would probably be having a fit about his paranoia. Watching Tormic begin to climb over the rubble, Jack felt again the gnawing worry that came from being out of contact with his team. Having radio contact with all members of the team was something he often took for granted. Now that he didn't have it, he realized exactly how much _more _worrying he would do on every mission if they didn't have the radios. He sighed. Leaving two badly incapacitated teammates behind to defend themselves did not sit well with him at all. Of course, he and Carter weren't really in great shape themselves so maybe it wasn't such a big deal to have left Teal'c and Daniel behind. Jack pulled his attention back to the present and reached out a hand to Carter. She took it without hesitation and let him assist her to the edge of the rock pile.

He had known the going would be tough and he wasn't at all mistaken. His weakened leg and arm only served to hamper their efforts and Sam was so weak that she almost couldn't move on her own. The rocks were slick and unsteady. Tormic was doing a bit better as he wasn't injured or sick, but even he was struggling to maintain his footing. It was impossible to see how long the corridor was and how far they had to go. There was the palest light filtering through the clouds, but it barely illuminated their steps through the darkness and rain. Jack had glanced at his watch just before they'd started climbing over the rocks. 1702. It seemed like it should have been much later. It had been a terribly long day and it didn't look like the day was going to end anytime soon.

His foot slid out from under him as a loose rock came loose from the pile. Jack managed to quickly regain his footing before he went over the edge. But he came close enough to start his heart pounding. He leaned against the rubble, trying not to let his eyes wander to the sheer drop off. He usually wasn't the one who had trouble with heights, but oh boy was he ever having troubles today. Looking up at Carter, he gave her a shaky smile and found he had something to focus on again. Thinking about her and making sure she was going to be safe helped distract him enough to get moving again.

"You alright, sir?" She called back. She had paused when she'd heard frantic scrambling behind her. Looking carefully over her shoulder, she saw the Colonel clinging rather enthusiastically to one of the stone blocks. He looked a bit, well a bit terrified. She smiled at his weak smile. The feeling of rocks sliding around under her own feet had put a great deal of fear into her own heart.

"Doing great, Carter, just great."

"Liar." It just slipped out.

The Colonel's eyebrows shot up, "You making an accusation against a superior officer, Major?"

_Stupid, Sam, really stupid._ Sam berated herself in her head, but knew he was just teasing her. "Sorry, sir."

He shook his head and took a cautious step forward, "Never you mind, Carter. It was a lie. I've definitely been better."

Sam almost laughed, catching herself just in time before she set off yet another coughing spell. She nodded, "I think we all have been."

"How are you holding up?"

"Hanging on, sir. In more ways than one." She started moving again as he was almost caught up to her now. She chanced taking a hand off the rubble to wipe her face. The rain felt good against her overheated skin. Tormic had paused and was looking over his shoulder at them. Sam waved and he nodded; they both set off again.

* * *

><p>Another hour passed before Teal'c stirred. Daniel glanced over at him. He had spent the last half hour looking through his pack. He wasn't in any big hurry about it but he couldn't just sit there doing nothing any more. He was as good as useless at the moment and he'd been as good as useless for the past few days. He needed to be doing something to help the team. Since he still hadn't felt up to moving yet, the only thing he could do was reach his pack and do inventory. He'd amassed quite a collection of books, journals and loose paperwork over the course of the past week. He stacked up the books next to him and was looking over the contents of the little leather pouch he'd taken off of the dead Jaffa.<p>

He waited until Teal'c seemed more awake, then he spoke up, "Hey, Teal'c."

Teal'c looked over at him, "Daniel Jackson."

"How are you feeling?"

"I am feeling refreshed."

"Really?" Daniel asked dubiously. Teal'c didn't really look much better, but he had lost some of the greyness to his face.

Teal'c nodded slowly. "I do. I regret requiring such a long period of rest to recover from my weakness."

Daniel smiled, "Oh, don't worry about it. Nothing much has been going on around here."

Teal'c nodded.

"Are you hungry?" Daniel asked, tossing him a stick of dried meat.

Teal'c accepted and reached for his canteen. He remained fatigued and knew he needed to eat to regain his strength. He studied his friend. "Have you eaten?"

"I'm trying to cut back on carbs." Daniel smiled.

"You remain too ill to eat." Teal'c said somberly.

"Oh yeah."

"This is not good."

"That's putting it mildly, Teal'c." Daniel said, closing his eyes.

Teal'c took a sip of water and glanced around the room. He checked the time. He could have used a lot longer period of Kel'no'reem to regain his strength, but at least he had a start. He noticed the stack of books and the pouch sitting next to Daniel Jackson. The other man had a small card in his hand. Teal'c asked, "What is that, Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel handed him the small sketch of the female Jaffa. He didn't open his eyes, but said, "It was in Sidrok's belongings. I assume she was someone important to him."

Teal'c gazed at the sketch. The woman was beautiful. He gently laid the drawing on the stack of books. He remembered O'Neill telling about the Jaffa who had attacked he and the archaeologist in the woods. He looked at the open journal next to the leather pouch. "Are these the writings of Sidrok?"

"Yes."

Teal'c gazed at the words. Apparently, the man had chosen to write in the Kamyen Obyet tongue. He wasn't able to read anything. He looked back up. "What have you learned from his writings?"

"I haven't really gotten started yet. Jack was able to make out some details about the weather machine, but I didn't get too far into it." Daniel answered, "I was about to start reading it to see if I could find anything to help us."

"This seems wise."

"About as wise as anything, I guess." There was a long pause, then he asked, "Teal'c, did you ever regret leaving everything behind and coming to Earth?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at the abrupt change of topic, "I am not certain I understand."

Daniel opened his eyes and looked at Teal'c, "You gave up everything in an instant. One split second and you made a decision to leave everything behind and fight with us. Have you ever regretted it?"

Uncertain as to the reason for this question, Teal'c said with certainty, "I have not."

"You were that certain that you'd made the right decision?"

"I was not. I only knew that I had never before seen anyone with any chance of doing anything to stand up against the Goa'uld. I had seen many other people, many other worlds attempt to rise against the Goa'uld, only to be tragically crushed. I knew there was something different about all of you. You had technology and a spirit that I had not before witnessed."

Daniel considered this and nodded slowly. "So you feel that you are doing what you're supposed to be doing?"

"I am most certain." Teal'c paused. He thought back to his conversation with Major Carter from days ago. Again, he felt that there was something significant bothering his friend. He decided the time was right for him to bring it up. "You appear troubled."

Daniel smiled ruefully. "Not really."

"Something has been bothering you of late." He decided to take an intuitive leap, "Do you feel that you are doing what you are supposed to be doing?"

There was silence for several seconds. Daniel finally said softly, "I don't know."

"You have been troubled for some time."

"Things have been...well, I've been..." Daniel smiled humorlessly, "troubled."

"Indeed."

Daniel sighed. Here he went again. First Jack tried to pry into his head and now Teal'c was attempting the same thing. He was tired of trying to muddle through this on his own. "I don't know if I'm where I'm supposed to be. I feel like we're not really accomplishing anything. Like _I'm_ not accomplishing anything."

"You feel you lack a purpose." Teal'c said, feeling certain he had an idea of what was bothering his friend.

"Yes." Daniel admitted.

"You have many purposes, many accomplishments. What you suffer from is grief."

Daniel looked at him sharply. He hadn't expected that. He looked away from Teal'c. He didn't want to face this. He was only just beginning to come to terms with Sha're's death. He had managed to set aside the heartache and continue to take each day one at a time, but that was all. Hearing her name, seeing her picture, or dreaming of her left him with the sharpest pain imaginable; spreading from his heart to every part of him. He wanted it to be something, anything else. He wanted it to be the need to move on, to find something greater, something more important to do. He was hoping this feeling was just a clear indication he _wasn't _where he belonged; that he'd accomplished his purpose for being at the SGC. If it was that, it would be ok for him to be so miserable and consider leaving. He'd spent his whole life leaving. But if it was just that he was still so distraught over her death that he'd turned into an unbalanced individual, _that_ was unacceptable.

"I have lost those dear to me. I have lost those I love." Teal'c's soft voice broke into his thoughts yet again, "Yet I am not able to truly understand your loss. Or the loss O'Neill suffered. My wife, though she is no longer my own, lives. Rya'c lives. I have not had to witness their deaths..."

"Teal'c please." He didn't want to talk about this. Not now, not ever. "I'm fine."

"You are not." Teal'c said gently, but firmly. "If you desire not to speak of these matters, I respect your wishes. But please, do not suffer needlessly."

"Teal'c, I appreciate your concern. I really do. It means a lot." Daniel took a shaky breath. He knew Teal'c meant the very best. Even as he tried to keep his emotions under control, he realized that there was an underlying pain in Teal'c's demeanor. Teal'c was sincerely concerned, but he was also bothered by something. "Are you still blaming yourself for what happened with Apophis?"

Now it was Teal'c's turn to duck and cover. "I am not likely to forgive myself for that foolishness soon."

Daniel nodded slowly. That was the kicker, to be sure. Forgiving oneself was never easy. Most times it was impossible. He leaned his head back against the wall and smiled ruefully, "You don't have to forgive yourself, Teal'c. There isn't anything to forgive. It wasn't your fault. But I understand. That's exactly how I feel."

For a moment they were silent, then Daniel's eye caught sight of his pack again. He could see the small crystals poking out of the pack. Frowning, he pulled them out. Turning them over in his hand, he looked up at Teal'c. "Have you ever seen crystals like these before?"

Teal'c accepted a crystal and shook his head, "I have not. Where did you find these?"

Daniel explained, then mused, "I wonder what these go to?"

"There are many devices in this city."

"True. The weather machine, the canopy, the weapon."

"Indeed." Teal'c inclined his head, "Regarding the weapon."

"Yeah, we should probably go."

Teal'c shook his head, "I will go. You will remain."

"Teal'c..."

"Do not attempt to dissuade me. I am rested and able to do what is needed to keep the weapon from falling into the wrong hands. It is far more important that you remain here and continue your research. You may yet discover something that would prove most helpful."

Daniel sighed. He knew Teal'c was right. The chances of him being much use to the Jaffa were slim. "You're probably right. Are you sure you're going to be able to find the weapon?"

"Yes."

"Seems so odd that Dougrae would lead you there earlier, doesn't it?" Daniel frowned. His brain was working very slowly and he had a feeling he was missing something rather important. "I wish I could figure out what he and Tormic are really up to."

"As do I." Teal'c acknowledged as he gathered his staff weapon and prepared to leave. "I find it difficult to be confident of their motives. What they have told us has seemed reasonable."

"But there's still something about..." Daniel paused, thinking back. He looked at Teal'c. "Tormic. He didn't speak English. We had to speak in the Kamyen Obyet language."

Teal'c nodded.

"But he's been speaking English lately." Even as he spoke, Daniel was running various scenarios through his mind. "It's because he's host to a Tok'ra, right? The host gets all the knowledge of the symbiote?"

"I believe that is correct, Daniel Jackson. What is troubling you?"

As Teal'c asked the question, Daniel realized Tormic speaking English really wasn't the most concerning thought to run through his mind. He was remembering more of what had happened on Kamyen Obyet and things weren't quite matching up. "He told us that the weapon was here."

"And he showed me where to locate the weapon."

Daniel shook his head, "When we were on Kamyen Obyet, he told me that Boorya took whatever had _activated _the weapon. The weapon and Portal hadn't worked since then. He didn't say the _weapon_ was here. Why would he change his story?"

Teal'c found this confusing as well. "It would seem unlikely that he would make such a mistake."

"Exactly. And I don't see why Tormic would lie about it. Maybe this isn't really about the weapon, Teal'c."

"You believe it could be about whatever _activated_ the weapon?"

Daniel's eyes dropped to the crystals. They had been very carefully tucked in a locked box. He really needed to read Sidrok's journal. Picking it up, he said, "Teal'c, I'm not sure we've been talking to who we think we've been talking to."

"Tormic has not been speaking for himself?"

"I'm beginning to wonder. We know a symbiote can control the host and make it seem that the host is speaking freely when they really aren't. It might explain the conflict about the weapon's location. So maybe Dougrae doesn't know where the weapon really is..."

"Or he is deliberately misleading us." Teal'c rose to his feet. "Perhaps I should seek Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter."

"Perhaps you should." Daniel agreed, "I'm getting the feeling we've been lied to again."

* * *

><p>Sam shrugged. She was leaning heavily against the wall and had just about reached her limit. For the past forty minutes, she had been trying to make sense of an alien device that she had no familiarity with whatsoever. Tormic had started growing increasingly impatient after they had reached the observatory which contained the canopy device. Sam felt more than a twinge of irritation at the man. She was with the Colonel in not fully trusting him. And he needed <em>her<em> help, for crying out loud! What right did he have to get impatient with her? He wasn't doing anything to help. He'd led them through the insane maze of hallways and through a death trap corridor, but that was all. Since they'd arrived at the observatory and he'd given her a rapid tour and run-down of the canopy device, he'd grown mostly quiet. What he'd told her about the device was nothing she couldn't have figured out in a few minutes so he hadn't been very helpful. Clearly, when he'd said he hadn't been able to figure it out, he'd meant it.

She coughed and grimaced. It had been a tremendously trying journey. Once he had made a careful survey of the observatory, the Colonel had found a perch on a block of masonry and hadn't moved since. She knew he was alert as ever, but she also knew how exhausted he was. He hadn't asked a single question. Which was fine with her. It was hard enough to avoid coughing, but she didn't exactly have a good answer for him anyway. Looking back at the glowing orb, pearlescent and illuminated from within, Sam sighed. She had a pretty good idea how the device operated. She also had a pretty good idea that turning it off would be a very bad idea. Pushing off from the wall, Sam dove into the guts of the device once more. There had to be something she could do with it. There just had to be. She was _not_ going to be responsible for trapping them all on this forsaken world. It was her fault that they'd ended up being sent through the Portal in the first place. She wasn't going to let it be her fault they'd never get home...

Jack rubbed his hand and divided his attention between his self-berating Major and the man he didn't trust. He could see it on Carter's face; she was blaming herself again and determined to do whatever it took to fix the problem and get them home. Shaking his head, he watched her lean back over the controls with a renewed determination on her face. He glanced at Tormic/Dougrae who was pacing back and forth across the room. _Huh_. If he'd been feeling like his normal self, he would have been pacing back and forth _with_ Tormic. It was too quiet. Carter usually kept him in the loop as to what she was working on, but this time she was silent. He normally would have been asking questions or trying to lighten the mood, but this time he was silent. After Tormic had given Carter a brief report, he'd grown silent as well. But Jack could read his tension and see his hyperactivity. There was something going on there that he didn't like. Why would Tormic, or Dougrae, be so antsy? What was their rush?

He was just about to open his mouth to begin investigating that line of questioning when Carter stood back up and looked at him. This time, there was a somewhat relieved expression on her tired face. She didn't look ecstatic, but she looked like maybe, just maybe, she'd come up with yet another miracle. He dragged himself to his feet and walked over to where she was leaning against the canopy controls watching him.

"Carter?"

"Sir."

"You got something?"

"You're not going to love it."

"Am I going to like it?"

"Well, I think it's a way for us to go home."

"Like it already." Jack smiled. "What have you got?"

She held up a square control panel. It looked like the inner workings of a VCR except that there were tiny colored pins in places he would have expected wiring. She pointed at the guts of the thing. "This is part of the operating system. I can't shut it off."

"Which is why I'm not going to love it."

"Exactly." She coughed into her sleeve. "I really don't understand much of it at all. It's so far beyond..."

Jack waved his hand, "Carter. Just bottom line it or you're going to have another coughing fit."

She nodded, not seeming disturbed to have had her usual technobabble interrupted. "Shutting it off completely, if I could even figure out how to do that, would cause a massive overload, resulting in catastrophic failure and, well, a very big bang, sir."

"Bad."

"Yes." She studied the device again, "I think this controls the time differential."

"The thing that makes time go fast here?"

She shrugged. "It's a guess. I can't read any of this, sir. But I think that I can adjust the time."

"Here's what I'm going to _like_, but not love."

"Exactly. The canopy is perhaps thousands of years old. It's failing. But at this rate, it probably would continue to operate for another hundred or so years." She reached for her canteen and took a drink. "But, if I'm correct, I can adjust the rate time is moving within the bubble and speed it up. The canopy seems to use energy in direct correlation to rate of time."

"Faster time flows, faster canopy..." Jack frowned, "Faster canopy does what?"

"Dissolves. It's deteriorating. If I increase the rate of time, the deterioration will also increase."

Jack smiled, "Meaning we can get out of here."

"Theoretically."

"I'm fine with theoretically."

"You are going to attempt this?" Tormic suddenly appeared at Jack's side, intently staring at Carter. "The canopy will be ended and we will be free to leave this place?"

She nodded, "Again, theoretically. There's a slight hitch."

"No, Carter." Jack shook his head, "There is never a _slight_ hitch. It's always a very big hitch."

"Even if I speed up the rate that time is passing here, it's going to be a while before the canopy fully dissolves. I mean, the time will be mere moments outside, but in here..."

"How long?

"A week."

Jack blew out a long breath. _Great_. Not what he wanted to hear. He was really sick of this place. And there was the little matter of all the members of his team needing an appointment with Dr. Frasier. But a week was better than say, a year. He'd take it. They could hold out for another week. They'd have to. He nodded, "Ok. Let's do it."

She replaced the control panel into an open slot and pointed. "Sir, there are some crystals that I pulled earlier. Could you grab them for me? I need to replace them in the correct sequence and then reroute the..."

Her voice trailed off as she buried her head in the device. Jack headed over to the other side of the device, picking up the crystals. Tormic had wandered off to the far side of the room and was staring out the window at the city below. They had been somewhat surprised to find that the observatory, a dome perched high on the rocks, was still mostly intact. There was a tremendous amount of damage, of course, but the dome itself was in one piece. The glass was filthy and cracked in places, but it was still holding back the rain. A power system continued to supply the dim lights in the metal girders of the dome to light the observatory. Jack walked back to Carter's side, studying the crystals. He realized suddenly that he'd never mentioned the crystals he and Daniel had discovered in the Jaffa's locked box. Things had been so crazy since they'd finally gotten back together that neither of them had even thought to tell her about them.

"Oh, Carter. Speaking of crystals. We found some odd looking ones in the woods."

She didn't lift her head from what she was looking at, but she called out, "Odd how?"

He looked at the ones he held in his hands at present. "They were smaller and less see through. Five of them, all different colors." He handed her the crystals. "You ever seen any crystals like that?"

She took the crystals. "I don't think so, sir."

He shrugged, "We hadn't either." He watched as she fiddled with the crystals. She didn't seem inclined to be very curious about the crystals. His gaze slid to Tormic who had turned from looking outside and was now staring at Jack.

Jack didn't like the way he was staring at him. A chill ran up his spine. If he hadn't already been sure he shouldn't trust the man, he was even more sure now. There was something malevolent about Tormic's expression. _Or was it Dougrae's expression?_ Jack wasn't sure how he would know who it _really_ was that was giving him the death glare. It didn't really matter. His hand, which had never really strayed far from the blaster, tightened around the weapon. He knew the other man had picked up on his increased wariness. Neither spoke, but the tension in the room jumped up a few points and Jack felt like he was staring down a bull in the ring. After a few seconds passed, never taking his eyes off Tormic, Jack spoke up.

"Carter, you done?"

She flashed him a tired smile, "I am, sir! If I did the calculations correctly, we should be able to get back to the Gate in a week or so." Her smile disappeared as she saw the look on his face. He wasn't looking at her. She turned and saw he was staring across the room at Tormic. Sam felt a twinge of fear as she took in the strangely frightening look on Tormic's face. "What is it, sir?"

"Step over here while I redirect that question to our friend here." Jack said warningly, lifting the blaster. Tormic hadn't made any aggressive move, but the look on his face was a mix of animosity and smugness. "What's going on, Tormic?"

"Tormic has no say in the matter." The voice was not Tormic's. "He merely serves my purposes."

That bad feeling Jack had been having got a thousand times worse. "What's your game, Dougrae?"

The man's eyes flashed and he laughed. "_Dougrae_. That fool. It was with extreme pleasure that I tortured that traitor to a slow, excruciating death."

_Oh crap, oh crap_ was playing in a continuous loop in Jack's head. His hand was steady as he pointed the blaster at the man. "So exactly how many personalities do you have? Who are you?"

The man slowly walked around the edge of the room. His steps were deliberate and he didn't appear in any way troubled. In fact, he seemed extremely confident. He said, "You should be more respectful to your god. I am Lord Montu."


	32. Chapter 32

Daniel reached for a notebook. There was a lot of information to go through and as slow as his brain was currently processing, he didn't want to take the chance that he would forget anything. Opening the closest notebook, he realized it wasn't his notebook after all. It was Jack's notebook. Despite all appearances, Jack did in fact know how to take notes and would jot important details down now and then. He vaguely remembered Jack having handed him the notebook earlier and teasing him that he was getting behind on his translations. So this seemed as good a place as any to get started.

There wasn't actually very much in the notebook this time. Daniel skipped past five pages of Hangman and wondered when Teal'c and Jack had found time to play; probably during one of the diplomatic meetings on Kamyen Obyet. The only other writing he found was a hastily scribbled note in Russian characters. Jack had translated one word. _Life_. He had also noted that the words had been found in a room on the same floor as the lab and had been on some odd devices Jack had referred to as water heaters. Somehow, Daniel was certain they hadn't really been hot water heaters. He studied the transcription. Jack had been right about the word life. Even though he couldn't be completely confident about his translation, Daniel did feel confident he had the general idea correct. The devices were _sanctuaries_ _of_ _life_. That was the closest translation he could come up with at the moment. So that probably meant the cylinders were some sort of suspended animation containers. Interesting. But not anything terribly important at the moment.

Daniel set aside the notebook and picked up Sidrok´s journal. The journal pages were nearly completely filled and it was a rather thick volume. Wishing he had time to read the entire journal, Daniel flipped to the end. He'd just have to start with the most recent entries and then skim the earlier sections if he needed clarification. The last entry was hastily written and rather short. Partially due to how almost illegible the writing was and partially due to how badly his head was hurting, it was taking him a lot longer to translate the section than he would have liked. Jotting some notes, Daniel reread his translation twice. Even though there were several words he wasn't sure about, the translation was clear enough.

_Rantron, yet again, pursued me nearly to the gates of the city. After these many years, I still cannot comprehend how a generation removed from the original war can harbor such hatred for my master and our cause. How this fight could still matter to this man who was not there when it began. I grow old and weak. These many decades I have been running, hiding, barely surviving. I grow tired. I have lost all I held dear, my wife, my family, my city, and finally my master. All that remains now is my last task. I will not fail Master Dougrae. I will die protecting that with which I was charged. I can only pray that somehow, by my death, I will protect Kamyen Obyet from ever being subjugated again by Montu._

Montu. Daniel frowned. This entry was the most recent. Montu was supposed to be dead. Rereading the passage, Daniel realized Sidrok was lamenting the death of his _master._ So _Dougrae_ was dead. He looked up at the open door. If Dougrae was dead, then who was possessing Tormic? Daniel looked back at the writing. Montu. It had to be Montu. Which meant Jack and Sam were with a Goa'uld...

* * *

><p>Jack couldn't help but smile. He really couldn't. It was just such a relief to finally know what was <em>really<em> going on. Now he knew who he was dealing with and he could plan. He could plan how he was going to kill the snakehead in front of him. He had his gun on him, so that was a real good place to start.

"Montu, you say." Jack saw Carter circle slightly to the side, her blaster also aimed at Montu. "I take it you're the power hungry snake in charge around here."

"I am ruler of this land."

"Gotta say I'm not too impressed."

Tormic's face took on a harder expression as Montu apparently didn't like Jack's comment. "You should show more respect, human. If your world is not ruled by a Goa'uld, then it soon will be. The Goa'uld rule this galaxy..."

"I can see where you could be confused on that point," Jack interrupted. "because I'm sure your cable subscription has been out for years now. But you and the rest of your family are no longer running this fine galaxy. It's been quite a few years since you made it to any of the reunions, I'm guessing, but there aren't as many left as you might think."

"You lie."

"Sometimes." Jack said brightly, "But not this time. Let's see. Ra, Hathor, Seth, Apophis, Apophis again...Carter, who else have we killed?"

"Heru'ur, Sokar..."

"You get the picture I think." Jack smiled. Montu looked like he was about to explode with fury.

"Your lies will not convince me."

"Don't care." He waved the blaster. "I have the gun on you. Why don't you just spit out your evil scheme. Catch us up here, Montu."

A smile spread across Tormic's face. Montu spoke slowly, "I do not believe I have any reason to explain myself to you. But, as you have served your purpose for me, I am willing to give you something."

Jack didn't like it. _Served your purpose_. That didn't sound good.

"I am very grateful to you, Major Carter, for working on this machine. Despite many years of effort, Boorya and I were unable to shut it down. Boorya truly did not know how to operate it; believe me when I say I have ways of finding out. When it was clear there would be no way to operate the canopy, I placed myself in the stasis chamber and programmed it to release me if the Portal should ever be reopened. Booyra was very old and I knew I would not live without the sarcophagus. I was unable to find anyone to take as a replacement host."

"Why do you want it shut down?" Carter asked.

He smiled, "For the same reason as you. I want out of this place. The unnecessary war brought about by the foolish rebellion of the Kamyen Obyet people left me trapped on this world as well. I have been waiting all these years to be able to return triumphant to my world."

Jack nodded, "Ah. See, now it all makes sense. You got your butt kicked by the Kamyen Obyet and their weapon and now you want revenge."

Montu looked bitter, "That weapon served to nearly defeat my forces. For a time, I was forced to go into hiding. I did eventually regain enough control to mount a counteroffensive. During this time of the war, Dougrae stole the crystals from the weapon. Without those crystals, the weapon will never operate again. He brought them through the Portal. I pursued him through the Portal and we began a war that lasted many years. There were Jaffa who remained loyal to me, while some had betrayed me to join the _shol'va_. So we continued to fight on Kamyen Obyet as well as here in T'zabt. Someone sabotaged the Portal during this war making a return to Kamyen Obyet impossible."

Sam frowned, "So the crystals operate the weapon? That's what you are after?"

"I have searched endlessly for those crystals. For years, my most loyal servant has been a Kamyen Obyet man who saw the truth and joined with me. Rantron has been pursuing the _shol'va_ Sidrok for all these years."

Jack nodded. Everything was starting to make sense. Sidrok must have believed he was being pursued by Rantron when he had shot at them in the woods. Jack felt bad that they hadn't had all the information when they'd fought back against the unseen shooter. Daniel would have tried to talk him down before he'd have ever shot at him. If Sidrok had been the good guy, than the other man Daniel had run into in the woods must have been Rantron. Jack realized something else. Those crystals that they had discovered in Sidrok's belongings were the only thing standing between Montu and another war. He met Montu's eyes and saw that he knew it as well.

A smile spread over the Goa'uld's face. "Yes. You have been most helpful. Despite refusing to follow my well laid plans."

Jack snorted, "Oh, we have a way of not following well laid plans."

"My plan was to separate all of you and kill you individually. My first failure was during the storm. I thought it would be easy to kill your friend in the storm, but he fought back and shot me. I then attempted to kill you two when you were exploring the hallways. You avoided the bomb and again I was unsuccessful in my attempts. I lured your Jaffa friend away earlier, planning to kill him." Montu grimaced, "Unfortunately, once my host caught sight of Tormic, who happened to be his grandson, he was able to muster enough strength to overpower me briefly. The fool. It cost him his life. Although this host is much younger and healthier so I will not complain." His smile was cruel, "Tormic believed he was freeing his grandfather from slavery and killing me."

"But you left Boorya and went into Tormic." Sam shook her head at the cruel twist of fate._ Poor Tormic!_

"I did. And what a wise choice. It allowed me more time to get to know you."

"A pleasure, I'm sure." Jack shook his head. "I don't see how using Tormic has gained you anything. You were doing good up to a certain extent, making us think you were Dougrae. You never did let Tormic talk for real, did you?"

"No. I have kept Tormic quiet, accessing his mind for details I needed." He grimaced, "Although he has been very persistent in his protesting."

"Nice plan overall, but you blew it, snake."

Again, the smile. "Have I? I do not believe I have."

"Well, let's see. Here we stand. We've got the weapons, you've got nothing and nobody. You gave up the charade too soon, Montu. I think it's time we locked you up like you deserve."

"No. I don't believe so."

Jack took a step closer. The man hadn't made any aggressive moves, he hadn't tried anything, but there was that strangely threatening confidence about him. Jack had done a careful search, so he knew the man didn't have any weapons on him. But that didn't mean he was harmless. He watched as Tormic lifted his arm and adjusted his lapels. He spoke something in Russian, much too fast for Jack to catch.

"Hey." Jack took another step closer. "What are you doing?"

"Instructing my men."

Jack's stomach did a flip. "Your men? You're looking pretty lonely here Montu. You're talking to yourself." Even as he spoke, he realized he was wrong.

There was a crackle, then they heard an unfamiliar voice, seeming to come from nowhere. The words were in Russian and Montu smiled. "As I said, my men." He pointed to a button on his lapel. It matched all the other buttons on his jacket, but clearly this button was more. "I am grateful to Tormic for bringing both a small army and the means to communicate with them."

Jack remembered Tormic activating an alarm from his lapel back on Kamyen Obyet and he wondered why he had been so stupid. He'd searched the guy, but why hadn't he remembered that and taken the jacket away? He forced himself to stay calm, "So, what? You're talking to these guys and making them think that you're Tormic?"

"Ah, you see my master plan. Yes, they believe I am Tormic. All of my dreams are coming true. I will be able to leave this place with an army and reclaim my position of glory over my former subjects."

"I don't see that happening."

"I don't see how you will stop me. The crystals are in my possession."

Jack narrowed his eyes, but didn't speak. He didn't like where this was going.

The man smiled and nodded, "I just confirmed with my man that he has your man."

"I don't believe you."

"Oh, let me help you believe." He touched the button again and issued a tense order in Russian. He smiled that smug smile as a few seconds passed. Then there was a bit of static.

_"Jack, whatever you're doing to annoy this guy, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop."_ Daniel sounded a bit breathless.

Jack's knuckles whitened.

"See? I told you."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to put your weapons, _my_ weapons, down on the ground and both of you stand against that wall over there."

"I don't think so."

Montu touched his lapel again and spoke in Russian.

"What did you just say?"

"I told my man to kill yours if you don't put your weapons down."

Jack felt Carter's eyes on him. He nodded slowly and held the blaster out. "Tell him to back off and we'll do it."

Montu smiled and reached for his lapel but before he could speak into it, he was interrupted by an incoming message. At first it sounded like total gibberish and Jack was as mystified as Montu seemed, then it clicked. It was Daniel and he was speaking in Arabic.

"_Jack, do whatever you have to do. I hid the crystals. Teal'c is on his way to you. Montu is lying; the weapon is back on Kamyen Obyet, not here. I took out the guy he sent here, which leaves four men unaccounted. Be careful and I'll..."_

The transmission was abruptly cut off as Montu seemed to figure out what was happening. He hit the button, rage written on his face and started to make a move toward Carter. Jack lifted the gun toward him, then caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He saw a flash of light and managed to dive to the floor just before he would have been shot with the energy weapon of the man in the shadows. Apparently the rest of Montu's so-called army had just reached their position. Jack rolled over and took up position behind the canopy device. He saw Carter ducking behind a marble statue. A few shots rang out and there was shouting in Russian. He looked over at Carter who had fired a few times.

"You see them?"

"Not anymore, sir."

"Me neither." He rose from his crouch and tried to pinpoint the voices. He could still hear shouting but the weapons fire had stopped. "What just happened?"

"I think Montu just made his getaway."

Jack had just about gotten to his feet when a flash of light alerted him that they weren't out if danger yet. "Carter. We need to get out of here. We've got no ground to hold."

She nodded and returned fire. As far as Jack could tell, they were facing two men. Shots were now coming from two different corners of the room. He hadn't yet managed to get a visual on their attackers and he hadn't seen Montu, so Carter was probably correct. Montu knew the canopy was shutting down. Now he just needed the crystals. Which were with Daniel. And Teal'c was somewhere in between. They really needed to get out of the observatory and catch up to Montu before he caught up to the remaining members of his army.

"Carter, got any grenades?"

She fired repeatedly at the corner nearest herself, then looked at him. "In a closed space like this..."

"I know. We don't exactly have the advantage here!" He ducked as a shot nicked the edge of the pedestal the canopy device stood on. They had precious little to hide behind and they didn't have the high ground.

"It could bring the entire place down on us."

He fired, then yelled, "Open to suggestions."

Well, just because she didn't necessarily like the idea of using a grenade in a closed space like this didn't mean she had any suggestions. She paused for a split second to consider what options they had, then realized the man nearest to her had moved slightly from his hiding place. Without hesitation, she fired and took the man out. Seeing his comrade go down spurred the other man into a fit of fury and within several seconds, the room had been shredded with terrific intensity. The Colonel barely had any place to hide and was tucked as close to the canopy device as he could get. Sam edged forward, trying to catch a glimpse of the other shooter. The firing continued non-stopped and the smoke made it difficult to see anything. The shooter was using it to his advantage as his position changed and he moved closed into the room, seeking his prey.

Jack realized the shooter had changed position. Now they had a chance. If he continued into the room, there was a chance they could make it out the door. He called out to Carter, "Move around to the left, Major. We've got a chance to slip out."

"Copy that."

They were silent after that, not wanting to let their attacker know where they were. Not that he could have heard anything over the din of his weapons fire. After a minute, they were almost to the doorway. Jack pressed up against a wall and looked back into the room. The shooter was now blindly spraying the room with shots; clearly he was lost. Which was fine with Jack. What _wasn't_ fine with Jack was the horrible cracking noise he heard over the weapons fire. He looked up, not really sure what he expected to see through the smoke. A second later and he didn't need to strain to see through the smoke. He was hit with a heavy piece of stone from above. He shoved Carter ahead of him and out the doorway just as the entire dome came crashing down.

* * *

><p>Once Daniel had read that entry in Sidrok's journal, he realized there was a lot he needed to do and he didn't have a lot of time to do it. He really needed to talk to Jack and Sam to let them know the man they were with was not at all who they thought he was. Teal'c at least had some idea, but he didn't know all of it. Picking up the crystals, Daniel placed them in the pouch he'd taken off Sidrok and forced himself to his feet with difficulty. They had to be hidden. Montu could not get his hands on them to take back to Kamyen Obyet and start another war. He leaned against the wall for a moment, trying to ignore how everything hurt and how the room had just done a cartwheel in front of his eyes. He forced his head up and tried to think of a place in the room that would be safe to hide the crystals. He would have preferred to take them to another part of the castle, or to at least divide them up. But he was going to be very lucky just to be able to hide them anywhere at the rate he was moving. He could only hope Teal'c was able to reach the others. Of course, they had several hours head start so it would take him a long time to reach them.<p>

He took a tentative step toward the nearest bookshelf. Grabbing a hold of the shelf, Daniel moved unsteadily across the room. Perfect hiding places weren't exactly popping out at him. But he didn't have time to be choosy. He needed to get them hidden before Montu or the men from Kamyen Obyet arrived. He wasn't going to have much chance of bargaining if he didn't have something to bargain with. And if he had the crystals in his hand when they showed up, he would be as good as dead. Reaching the second set of bookshelves, he decided it was just going to have to do. He dropped to his knees so he didn't fall over. That shelf would do just fine. It was second from the bottom and he just pulled out the thickest volume and slid the crystals behind it. Putting the book back in place, Daniel took a few deep breaths before pushing himself to his feet.

It was good that the bookshelf was still within reach, or he'd have gone down again. The edges of his vision were dimming. He forced himself to slow his breathing. Such a short walk should not have left him nearly hyperventilating. Hanging on, he slowly walked back toward the supplies. He wished he hadn't left the zat over against the wall. Thankfully, he still had the Beretta strapped to his leg, so he wasn't without a weapon. Before he could make it much beyond the bookshelf he had started at, he heard footsteps approaching him. There wasn't time for him to do anything, even pulling his gun would have been pointless.

A gun pressed just behind his ear. "Do not move."

The words were in the Kamyen Obyet version of Russian. Daniel slid his left hand up and said, "I'm not moving." As he brought his left hand up, he slowly eased the Beretta out of the holster and carefully slid it beside a book on the shelf, then brought his right hand up. The man was going to search him of course. Now he had a chance.

"You speak my language." The voice held some surprise, as the speaker did a rapid search.

"I do. Who are you?"

"My name does not matter." The man came around to face Daniel, his weapon pointing threateningly.

"Well, I'm Daniel and I mean you no harm. You came through the Portal?"

The man didn't answer, but suddenly, they heard a disembodied voice. Daniel realized the man had a communication device and he was hearing Tormic's voice. Montu ordered the unnamed man to report his status. The man smacked Daniel on the side of the head with his weapon and motioned for him to speak.

"Jack, whatever you're doing to annoy this guy, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop."

There was a momentary silence, then Montu instructed the man to kill his prisoner if he didn't hear back from Montu. From the sounds of it, Montu was waiting for Jack and Sam to drop their weapons. The man in front of him smiled unpleasantly. There wasn't any way out of this situation. Jack wasn't going to easily relinquish his weapon, but knowing Daniel was being threatened, he wouldn't hesitate for long. So Daniel had to do something. He took a deep breath and studied the man in front of him. He didn't look like he would be easily distracted by talk. So forget the talk and skip to the action.

Jack would be proud.

Daniel grabbed his gun and threw himself to the left, firing as he fell. He smacked the ground hard, the breath exploding from him. The man fell over backwards, never getting a chance to fire a shot. Daniel let his arm fall to his side; he was out of bullets. Wanting to stay where he was, he sucked in a painful breath and dragged himself to the man's side. Grabbing the lapel, he found the communication device and quickly sent the most concise message he could. He sincerely hoped Jack caught all of it.

Finishing speaking, he collapsed on his side next to the body. He felt a rush of warmth flood over him and the room went to a very dark shade of black. Focusing on his breathing, he listened for any signs of a reply coming through. This not knowing was seriously frustrating. He needed to be able to hear from his friends and know they were ok. He needed to talk to Teal'c and let him know what he was headed into. But there wasn't anything he could do at the moment. He needed to wait for a few minutes...or however long it would take for the spinning of the room to slow down.

* * *

><p>Teal'c was following the directions as best he could. It had been wise of O'Neill to make Dougrae give the detailed directions to the observatory in the presence of all of them. Teal'c had the notes in his hand and was using them to navigate the darkened hallways. Without them, he would have had no idea where to go to find his teammates. Knowing there were at least five Kamyen Obyet soldiers also roaming the halls added some incentive to hurry. He was grateful to have the staff weapon in his hand. Although he was accustomed to the weapons of the Tau'ri, he still preferred to have his own weapon.<p>

Consulting his notes, Teal'c found himself at a narrow staircase. He looked up into the darkness and began his trek upwards. Climbing a flight of stairs was not exactly something Teal'c wanted to be doing at present. The period of Kel'no'reem had refreshed him and helped him feel a bit stronger, but he had a long way to go. He adjusted his grip on the staff weapon as he reached a doorway. There was a thin sliver of light in the hallway the door opened up to, but he didn't see any signs of life. So he kept climbing the stairs. He knew he had several hours of walking before he would reach the observatory.

That made him uncomfortable. With all members of the team at less than their best, Teal'c wanted to get them all back together as quickly as possible. He reached the top of the staircase and stepped out into another wide hallway. There were huge windows on either side; all with broken glass. The hall appeared deserted and still. Teal'c turned left and saw that the hall curved at the far end. That was where he was heading. Following the curve of the hall, Teal'c found himself at a transporter. He stepped inside and hit the button he had been instructed to hit. The transporter flashed and the door opened.

Stepping out carefully, he found the room empty and dark. It was a small room, devoid of furniture or ornamentation. Teal'c opened the door and slipped out into the hall. If he were to be completely honest, he had to admit he was getting tired of this city and its maze-like hallways. This was an extremely long hallway, but at least the scenery was a bit more interesting. The walls were decorated in ornate images of flowers and intricate scrollwork. He had to admire the beauty even as he hurried along the hall. He had reached a curve in the hallway when he heard voices ahead. Pausing near a wide doorway, Teal'c listened for a moment.

There were two distinct voices, and they were both angry. Shouting back and forth and over top of one another; clearly there was a major problem. Teal'c could only hope the issue didn't involve his teammates. He carefully peered around the doorframe and saw two men he did not recognize. Apparently they were part of the team that came through from Kamyen Obyet. Teal'c hesitated to go nearer, yet this was the way his directions were leading him. He had no alternative map. He would either have to force his way through, or he would have to wait until they moved. Both men appeared well armed and prepared to fight.

Teal'c had barely began to consider his options when he was interrupted by a sudden crashing noise. It had come from just beyond the room where the two men were arguing. Teal'c looked around the corner again and saw the two men had stopped arguing and were peering at the opposite end of the room. There was a heavy door and it was shaking in time with a heavy pounding. The men began backing up and Teal'c lowered his staff weapon in preparation. Just as he did so, the door burst open and two _Sha_ jumped into the room. One man went down almost instantly, his weapon firing spasmodically as the beast devoured him.

Teal'c fired at the creatures and hit both of them as the second man ran past him and out into the hall. Seeing the two beasts were not slowing down much, and recalling all too well his past experiences with them, Teal'c turned and quickly caught up with the man. They ran around the curve and found themselves in a huge open hall. There were massive pillars rising up to the ceiling, far above them. But there didn't really seem to be any place to make a stand. Teal'c yelled at the man running with him and they headed to the far right wall. Up ahead, he could see a few windows above the main floor. If they could reach a window, maybe he could boost the man up and then fight the beasts. From the way the beasts were pounding after them, Teal'c wasn't very confident of their abilities to get ahead of the _Sha._

The man paused to shoot a few shots over his shoulder. Teal'c grabbed his shoulder and shoved him ahead. If the man did not continue running, he find himself devoured like his companion. A moment later the man suddenly stumbled over a loose piece of the floor. He hit his knees and Teal'c immediately turned to cover him with continuous fire from his weapon. It slowed the beasts down just enough for Teal'c to be able to help him get back to his feet. As they began to run again, Teal'c realized he could feel the ground shaking. Risking a glance down, he was disheartened to see there were significant gaps in the masonry. Now that they were closer to the wall, he could actually see sections of the floor were missing. Stumbling again, he was nearly thrown off his feet by a sudden thud behind him as one of the _Sha_ leapt toward them. A split second later and he was sailing through open space. The floor had completely disappeared below them...

* * *

><p>Daniel spent ten minutes trying to get someone to answer him over the communication device. Finally giving up, he rolled onto his side and started the tedious process of pushing himself to his knees. It was bad enough he'd been down so long; he didn't want to take the chance of any other unexpected guests popping in while he was across the room from his weapon. He had to admit that lying still had done wonders for his condition. He still felt like crap, but the spinning of the room did seem to have lessened somewhat. It took a few minutes before he was able to stand up, but finally he had his hand against the wall and was headed back to the supplies and the zat.<p>

"Ah, I see you met Aithen."

The voice came from the darkness of the hallway and sent his heart pounding painfully in his chest. Daniel turned to the door, hand still against the wall. There was no way he was going to make it to the zat now. Tormic was strolling into the room, no _Montu_ was strolling into the room, and he was already closer to the supplies than Daniel was.

"How did you get back here so quickly?" Daniel finally found his voice.

"You think I do not know many passages and ways to get from one place to another?" Montu asked, bending down to sift through Daniel's pack.

Daniel shook his head slowly, "If you knew of a quicker way, why did you take the long way the first time?"

"I have all the time in the world. I am fit and well. Your friends grew weak over the lengthy journey, allowing me the advantage. It also allowed time for my little army to get into place." He stood up and slid the hand device onto his left hand.

"That didn't seem to help them much." Daniel pointed at the body. He was desperate for a distraction, a plan, something. He couldn't let Montu find those crystals.

Montu laughed, "Yes, you managed to kill this one. But two of my men killed your friends after they fixed the canopy device and the other two were in pursuit of the Jaffa."

"No!" Daniel exclaimed. He refused to believe it.

"Oh yes, I killed the woman and the man with the clever mouth." He laughed. "They died in agony..."

"Nah. That's a bit of an exaggeration, Monty."

Both Daniel and Montu spun in surprise at the sound of Jack's voice. Montu dove for cover behind a nearby bookcase as Jack fired the blaster at him. Daniel moved in the opposite direction, thoroughly surprised, yet relieved to see his friends alive. Jack was at his side in an instant, assessing him while keeping his gun ready. Daniel could see Sam had found a way into the room from above and was working her way down a staircase, firing continuously.

"You ok?" Jack asked quickly.

"Great. How'd you guys get here so fast?"

"Followed the snake. He had two of his men on us." Jack was moving toward the bookcase as he talked, "They brought down the observatory on themselves trying to get to us. We managed to catch up to old Monty's trail and follow him back." Jack shook his head, annoyance on his face, "He never told us there was a shortcut."

"Yeah, I know." Daniel leaned down and picked up the zat. He followed Jack, glimpsing blonde hair farther ahead as Sam attempted to flush the Goa'uld out.

They were interrupted by the sound of crashing bookshelves ahead. They saw a flash from the hand device and another shelf collapsed. Jack motioned Daniel to the right and they split up. A few seconds later, he caught a glimpse of Montu, creeping around the edge of the staircase. Jack looked past him and saw Carter, moving in the opposite direction, intent on something she must have thought was Montu. The snake was just barely in range and Jack raised his weapon. A split second before he could fire, Montu ducked down and used his hand device to fire a powerful burst ahead of him. Jack fired again, knowing he wasn't going to stand a chance of hitting the man. The burst from the hand device brought down a good-sized chunk of the balcony above. To Jack's horror, he could see Carter move just in time to be buried in the falling rubble.

"Sam!"

He heard Daniel's shout and turned to the left to try to find where Montu had gone. He circled around another fallen shelf until he was behind the staircase. There was a pale light illuminating the area, but everything was shadowed. Jack could just make out Montu's jacket ahead, still near the edge of the staircase. Lining up his blaster, Jack fired repeatedly, then took a step forward. In the same instant he realized he had just done a thorough job of shredding Tormic's coat, he felt the cool steel of a wickedly curved blade as it sliced through his chest. Montu materialized out of a shadow, his grin evil as he twisted the blade just slightly.

Jack's breath had gone with the initial impact of the blade, but he gasped in agony as the snake yanked the blaster out of his hand at the same time he pulled the knife out of his chest. Collapsing to the ground, Jack could barely draw breath. He knew this was it. The knife had caught his lung in addition to whatever other damage it had done on its path through his body. He curled in on himself, groaning and uselessly putting his hands against his ribcage to try to stem the bleeding. Montu tossed the bloody knife aside and smiled down at him.

"_Fool_. I_ told_ you to respect your god." He turned around and faded out of Jack's sight.

Jack bit his lip and tried not to scream at the pain. It wasn't going to be long now. _Not long at all._ Scattered thoughts began rushing through his mind. This certainly wasn't the first time he had been pounding down death's door, but it was going to be the last. He had a lot of regrets, he realized as pain coursed through him. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and groaned. He was going to die at the hand of a Goa'uld. There was a chance Daniel or Teal'c could take Montu out; not that he'd get to see the happy event. He was vaguely aware of shooting still going on, so he was hopeful Daniel would kill the snake. But Carter...he bit back another groan and sucked in a painful breath. She was most likely already dead. He had failed her. He hadn't protected her like he'd sworn to himself he always would. It was just as well he was moments from death; he could never live with himself knowing it had been his failure to kill the snake that had cost Carter her life. He could never have gone on without her anyway... What was the point? He had never told her what she meant to him and he probably never would.

The sounds of the battle seemed to be fading and he was losing strength. Jack rolled onto his back, hands weakly pressing against the bleeding wound. He was still running through his list of regrets when he heard something he really wished he hadn't. Daniel's voice. Shouting his name. Clearly, he had just been discovered. He wished he hadn't. Unless Daniel had killed Montu; then he wouldn't really mind a little company as his life slipped away. But if Montu _wasn't_ dead and Daniel was going to be distracted with trying hopelessly to save his life, then Jack would not be pleased.

"Jack! No!" Daniel was on his knees at Jack's right side, instantly pressing his hands against Jack's.

Jack squeezed his eyes closed and groaned at the added pressure against the knife wound.

"Jack! Hang on, you hear me?"

"Daniel!" Jack ground out breathlessly. "He better be dead."

Daniel didn't answer, but concentrated on applying pressure. "Jack, look at me!"

Jack forced his eyes open and tried to concentrate. He saw the absolute fear and desperation in Daniel's eyes. He felt bad that it was going to end this way. If he had to die, it really would have been better if Daniel hadn't been around. He was going to spend the rest of his life replaying the scene, trying his hardest to solve the unsolvable. Jack managed to pull his right hand out from under the pile of hands. He weakly grasped Daniel's wrist.

"Jack just shut up. You hear me?" Daniel asked. He couldn't believe this was happening. Jack wasn't supposed to die. And as much as he wanted to deny it, he knew it was true. Jack was bleeding to death right now, right in front of him. And he couldn't do anything to stop it. All he could do was uselessly try to slow the flow of blood. He swallowed hard, trying to come up with something...anything to do. But there was no point. It was hopeless. Teal'c was who knew where; Sam was most likely dead. He'd seen the rubble come down and he didn't see how she could possibly have survived it. Montu was somewhere, seeking him and the crystals. And suddenly Daniel didn't care.

Jack was having a hard time staying focused. There was a distinct blackness around the edges of his vision and he felt incredibly tired. Despite his fatigue, he had clearly seen the change in Daniel's demeanor. The man had just given up. Jack wouldn't stand for that. He squeezed Daniel's wrist hard enough that it must have hurt. Daniel met his eyes and Jack could see that, even if this hadn't happened, Daniel wouldn't have been likely to have made it much farther. He was barely clinging to consciousness himself after all the running around and fighting. Suddenly, Jack had a thousand things he desperately needed to say to his friend and absolutely no strength, or time, to say them. He was struck by his own stupidity. He had had all the time in the world, countless barbecues, movie marathons, long hikes on quiet missions when he could have told his teammates what they meant to him. It wasn't weakness to let a friend know they were important. He saw Daniel shaking his head.

"Jack if you're thinking sappy thoughts about telling me how good of friends we are and how much you care, I swear I'll leave you right here to die alone."

Jack laughed even though it sent fire searing from his chest to the rest of his body and caused him to cough up another mouthful of blood. Should have known Daniel was reading his mind. "So you don't want any deathbed confessions?"

"No. And if our roles are ever reversed..."

_A_ _rather outrageously optimistic thought at this point_, Jack mused.

"I wouldn't expect it either." Daniel was finding it hard to keep talking. But he needed to keep Jack awake. Why he wasn't sure. Other than he was used to last minute miracles and he really didn't want to think about Jack dying. He continued, "Besides, I know you care. I've got the season pass to the May Museum of Natural History to prove it."

"Not yet you don't." Jack replied, then his jaw dropped. "He just couldn't keep his mouth shut, could he?" It took several painful breaths before Jack managed to get his entire statement out. He couldn't believe Teal'c had told.

Daniel shook his head. "He didn't tell me. I'm just good at guessing."

Jack groaned and shook his head too. He was feeling less pain, but he was starting to feel cold and more disconnected. This was bad. Good thing Daniel said he didn't have to give any deathbed confessions; he wouldn't have been able to say anything coherent at this point. Apparently, he really hadn't needed to say much on those long hikes after all; actions spoke a lot louder than words most of the time. Jack stared at Daniel; he wanted to send him away, to kill Montu, to find Carter, but it was pretty nice knowing he wasn't going to have to die alone.

"Oh what a touching scene."

_Crap._ Jack could barely turn his head, and he really didn't want to. Montu was standing just to his left, that wicked smile on his face and the hand device pointed directly at Daniel.

"Too bad I'm not sentimental." Montu activated the hand device. "Where are my crystals?"

"I threw them out the window. Sorry." Daniel said, not ceasing to apply pressure to Jack's wound. He didn't have time to say more before he felt the awful pain of the device as Montu used it on him.

Jack was furious but too weak to move. Daniel hadn't let up pressure on his wound despite Montu's use of the hand device. He really didn't want to watch Daniel die like this. Daniel already had a severe head injury and he seemed to be fading rapidly under the beam from Montu's weapon.

Daniel knew it was over. He had failed them all. Jack was going to die and Montu was going to get the crystals. He wished he _had _thrown them out the window. But there wasn't anything more he could do. The pain he felt was so intense he was surprised his head hadn't actually exploded yet. He was already blind. He also couldn't hear anything. The only sense he had left was touch and the only thing he could feel was Jack's warm blood flowing endlessly through his fingers. He tried to speak, to let Jack know he was sorry for failing, for letting them all down. Not knowing whether he had managed to speak, Daniel let go of awareness and fell into blackness.

Jack barely heard Daniel say he was sorry before he collapsed on his side, hands finally giving up their desperate attempt to stop the bleeding. Not caring anymore about Montu or the crystals, Jack let his head fall to the right so he could see Daniel who lay on his side, blood covered hands still outstretched toward him. He couldn't tell if he was even breathing. Jack inched his hand along the cold stone floor, taking in the ghostlike features of his friend. Finally, his fingers touched Daniel's wrist. His hand was as slick with his own blood as Daniel's were and it nearly slipped as he tried desperately to palpate a pulse. The last thing he felt before the blackness overwhelmed him was the thready and weakening pulse beneath his fingers...


	33. Chapter 33

Teal'c sailed through the air, expecting a fall, a sudden stop and a painful death. Well, he got the sudden stop. He had flown across the collapsed section of the floor and reached out toward the far edge desperately and missed. But he didn't fall. _Not much._ The Kamyen Obyet man had landed on the far side and quickly reached down and grabbed Teal'c's arm. Looking up, Teal'c found the man attempting to pull him over the edge. Teal'c levered the staff weapon up over his head and threw it like a spear beyond the man. He reached up for the edge of the broken floor as the man backed up. Teal'c could hear the terrible howls of the _Sha_ behind him as it pawed at the other edge of the fallen floor. A quick look down confirmed that one of the beasts had taken the plunge. Teal'c looked back up at the man and used his considerable strength and resolve to grab the edge of the ground and pull himself up so his chest was over the edge. That _Sha_ could easily leap across the open area. Teal'c could only assume it was because it was wounded that it hadn't already come at him. A moment later, and he was rolling across the floor into a standing position.

He nodded his thanks to the man who extended the staff weapon to him. The man touched his own chest briefly and said, "Vadim."

Teal'c fired a few shots at the beast and got it backing away from the edge. He then introduced himself in the same way. Vadim flashed the briefest of smiles, then took off at a run. Teal'c kept pace with the soldier. They were not running as desperately as before, but with the _Sha_ behind them, neither was inclined to wait around. Turning a corner, Teal'c was somewhat dismayed to find they were in a small room with no other way out. Vadim did a circuit of the room, analyzing the walls, apparently searching for something. Teal'c did his own survey and realized what the man was looking for. They were in a room with a ring device. Vadim hit his knees and yanked out a piece of the wall, revealing a control panel. He shouted something in Russian and nodded to the rings. Teal'c nodded and stepped into the rings, covering the open door as Vadim worked.

It was a good thing he'd been prepared because he heard the terrible growl of the monster and felt the ground shake as it landed on their side of the open area. Sparing a glance at Vadim, Teal'c saw fury and impatience on the man's face as he continued to shout, working swiftly on the controls. The technology did not seem unfamiliar to him at all, leaving Teal'c to assume perhaps ring devices was a normal method of travel for the Kamyen Obyet.

The _Sha _suddenly appeared in the doorway, huge and white and menacing. It was badly wounded, mortally, Teal'c was certain. But it didn't matter. It still had enough strength to tear them both to shreds. Teal'c fired repeatedly, the beast taking hit after hit, but stalking forward nonetheless. It was almost to the rings and Teal'c really didn't want it to come with them wherever they were going. He was about to shout to Vadim when the man gave a shout of his own and, from his crouched position by the wall, lifted his gun, pushed off and dove sideways into the rings, firing continuously at the _Sha._ Vadim hit the ground behind Teal'c and the rings activated around them.

A flash of light later and Teal'c found himself staring at the head of the _Sha_ beast, inches from his leg. Regardless of the fact that the beast was dead, Teal'c found himself swiftly moving backwards instinctively. Vadim sat up behind Teal'c and gave a sudden shout, shooting his weapon frantically. Teal'c slid to the right, away from the weapon. He turned around and looked at the man. Vadim stopped firing and his eyes slid to Teal'c.

Teal'c offered a smile, "I believe he is quite dead."

Vadim looked at him curiously, but seemed to get the general idea. He nodded and got to his feet. Teal'c also rose, taking a moment to assess the man with him. He was probably in his mid-forties, clearly a capable soldier, muscular and fit. He handled himself well in a pinch and didn't seem to bear him any ill will. Currently, he was talking rapidly in Russian into his lapel. Teal'c realized he was using a similar sort of communication device that Tormic had used to alert the security forces back on Kamyen Obyet. Teal'c assumed he was attempting to contact the rest of his men and turned his attention from Vadim to the room. He was surprised to see that he recognized the room.

He was back in the Goa'uld's chambers. The chambers that Dougrae had led him into hours earlier. Which meant he could find his way back to the level with the lab. From there, he could use the transporter to return to the library. Teal'c shook his head slowly. What choice did he have at this point? He would have to start from scratch if he hoped to follow the directions to the observatory. He couldn't get back across that collapsed section of floor. So he might as well return and check on Daniel Jackson. Turning, Teal'c was about to reactivate the rings when he realized Vadim was halfway out the door. He did not seem to have been able to reach his men over the communicator and apparently was looking for a way out.

"Vadim!" He called, but the man did not respond.

Teal'c walked past the damaged sarcophagus and joined him in the hallway, seeing the hardened expression on the man's face. The sight of all the bodies and destruction was still difficult for him to observe and he'd already faced it once. Vadim looked angry and disturbed. But now was not the time to mourn those long dead. Teal'c had a team to reunite and protect. If Vadim wanted to join them, he would not stop him, but Teal'c wasn't going to follow if Vadim went his own way. He touched the man's shoulder.

"There is yet the possibility of life in this place of death. But you will not find it here."

Vadim turned and met his eyes. It was obvious the man did not know what he had said, but that the calming words were having their intended effect despite the language barrier. The cold anger in Vadim's eyes did not fade, but he nodded slowly and turned. Teal'c also nodded and led the way back into the chamber. He was almost to the ring platform when he paused and glanced around the room at the fine furniture and decor. He hurried over to a large cabinet. There was a chance he could find a healing device somewhere in this room. If there was any likely place a healing device might be located, this would probably be it. Yanking the door open, he quickly searched the cabinet, finding nothing but silky robes. Vadim had stepped over to a chest of drawers and also started looking through them. After several minutes of searching the entire room, Teal'c felt discouragement creeping over him again. It had been a long shot, but he had been hoping. They really could have used the device. They were all on their last reserves and nearly out of medications.

Shaking his head slowly, Teal'c turned to face Vadim. The man was watching him silently, a question in his eyes. Teal'c continued to shake his head. They had torn the room apart. Having looked in every nook and cranny, he was fairly confident that he hadn't missed anything that could possibly contain a healing device. Vadim looked around the room again, then brought up his weapon. He fired at the cabinet Teal'c had initially been looking through and Teal'c turned in surprise. He watched warily as the man walked over and reached into the smoking cabinet. Approaching, Teal'c realized that there had been some sort of hidden panel behind the shelves. Vadim pulled out two boxes. He handed one to Teal'c while he pried the second one open. Teal'c found a bag of gold coins and a small box-like gadget. He slid both into his pack and glanced over at Vadim.

Vadim held up a healing device.

* * *

><p>Sam heard the awful sound of something heavy cracking and she looked up just in time to see the balcony above her head begin to fall. She wasn't sure how Montu had managed to get behind her, but his use of the hand device was starting to get very annoying. Throwing herself to the right, she rolled as fast as she could but still felt the heavy chunks of stone battering her. Trying to continue moving, she found herself trapped up against a bookshelf. Pulling herself into a tight ball as she heard a heavy impact not very far from her, Sam put her arms over her head and held her breath. She heard Daniel shout her name and figured it looked pretty bad from where he had been standing.<p>

Of course, it felt pretty bad from where she was lying, too. A moment after the avalanche had started, it ended and she took a shaky breath. She had rolled just in time, she realized, opening her eyes and finding herself far too close to the fallen balcony. Moving her arms, Sam realized she was rather trapped. The bookshelf at her back was heavy and not moving, most of the balcony was literally at her knees and preventing her from straightening her legs. Turning her head with some difficulty, her eyes widened as she found herself face to face with a large statue, its empty marble eyes staring at her.

"Wow." She breathed out quietly, amazed to still be in one piece. She tried to peer around at the rest of her surroundings and realized with dismay that, while she still had all of her extremities, her blaster had been neatly crushed. Pulling at it, she shook her head when it snapped in half. Leaving it where it was, she decided to worry about getting free. She still had her knife at least.

In the background, things had grown somewhat more quiet. So everyone must be in hiding at the moment, she figured. She needed to get out of here and kill that snake. Pushing with her legs, she found that whatever piece of rubble was at her feet was more or less movable. She moved her arms above her head and ran up against something heavy. So it was going to be the other direction. Sliding along the floor, she brought her knees up and then kicked out again. The rubble continued to move. It wasn't going to be easy, and she was already feeling claustrophobic, but she was just going to have to shimmy out like a worm. As she prepared to push off again, she heard Daniel call out Jack's name.

Her heart turned to ice. Daniel didn't do panic. But that was exactly what she heard in his voice. Whatever had happened, it had been very bad.

"No, no, no, no, no!" She screamed in her head. She strained her ears to make out what was going on while she kept wriggling through the debris. Every once in a while, she could make out Daniel's voice, but he was too quiet for her to understand what he was saying. But something was wrong, very wrong. Desperately, she kicked at the debris again and felt something give way. Slithering as quickly as she could, Sam finally broke free from her prison and yanked out her knife.

Sitting up carefully, she cursed mentally as she dissolved into a fit of coughing. All the dust had not been good for her lungs and she thought she'd never catch her breath. As she tried desperately to suck in a breath, she heard the sound of that hand device activating again. _Crap._ She pushed herself to her feet with difficulty, unsteady as she tried to overcome the lightheadedness. Carefully, she picked her way through the mess, trying to pinpoint where the device was at. Her fear for her teammates was turning rapidly to fury at the Goa'uld who had caused all of this. Tripping over a rock, she heard Montu's voice and she froze. She couldn't make out what he had said, and she didn't hear anything other than his weapon. Moving again, she heard the disconcerting sound of something hitting the ground. Something that sounded suspiciously like a body.

Throwing caution to the wind, Sam practically hurdled a fallen bookcase in her haste. She heard Montu's voice again and realized he was gloating. Still without caring how much noise she was making, Sam ran around a corner and saw Montu turning to face her. He had such an evil smile on his face she felt cold. She felt even colder a second later when she saw her teammates sprawled on the ground just beyond him. She could all too easily see the blood all over the Colonel's chest and Daniel's hands. With more hatred than she thought herself possible of possessing, Sam lunged at Montu and had just barely enough restraint to not kill him outright. It was a Goa'uld possessing an innocent man. Tormic didn't deserve to die and somehow she managed to rein in her fury. She did drive the knife up to the hilt into his shoulder, preventing him from raising the hand device to use on her.

If she was feeling rage, it was nothing compared to the rage on his face. He was screaming at her in Goa'uld, practically apoplectic, eyes flashing. Sam yanked the knife out and drove it into his other shoulder as he came at her. Beneath the anger, she really, really didn't want to kill Tormic. But she would. If she had no other choice, she would do it in a heartbeat. He was still coming at her with superhuman strength. Backing up, knife at the ready, Sam prepared to continue the knife battle when the last thing she ever would have expected happened.

Montu jumped out of Tormic's open mouth and came flying toward her face.

Sam reacted instantly and swung her knife up in time to nick the Goa'uld and send it to the ground. It rapidly began to slither away and Sam didn't waste a second. She immediately hacked Montu into no less than a dozen pieces. That had to have been about the most gruesome way she'd ever killed a Goa'uld, but it had been quite satisfying. Sam didn't waste any time in celebrating, though. She could hear Tormic moaning and writhing on the ground nearby, but she ignored him, her concern focused on her teammates.

She turned around and immediately knelt next to the Colonel, pressing her hands against the wound without bothering to check for a pulse. Her eyes filled with tears as she realized he didn't have much time. He was breathing in sporadic gasps and he was about the same color grey as the stone floor he lay on. Sam glanced over at Daniel and felt sick. She couldn't tell if he was breathing at all. There wasn't anything she could do for him at the moment, being more concerned at the moment with doing what little she could to prolong the Colonel's life.

The blood was seeping through her fingers, and Sam could barely see through her tears. They were both going to die. Right now, in front of her eyes and she was completely powerless to do anything about it. Shaking her head, Sam whispered, "Sir, I'm sorry. Please, please, don't." She sniffed and tried not to completely break down as she whispered, "Please. _Jack, _don't leave me."

"Major Carter!"

Sam couldn't believe her ears. She was crying so hard that she could barely speak his name, "Teal'c!"

He suddenly appeared at her shoulder, "Major Carter, there is little time."

Obviously he had made a very rapid assessment of the situation. She didn't disagree with him, but struggled to find her voice, "Teal'c, there's no...we can't..." Before she could even finish her sentence, she felt Teal'c's hand on her arm and she tried to blink through her tears as he seemed to be trying to hand something to her.

"Samantha, there is yet time." Teal'c spoke softly, lifting one of her hands and placing the healing device in it. He realized she was almost beyond comprehension and he shook her shoulder.

The device finally came into focus and Sam's hands were shaking as she reached up and took it out of Teal'c's hand. She couldn't believe it. Her hands were slick with blood and she struggled to slide the healing device onto her hand. She focused her energy and immediately began to use the device. Even as she used her strength to attempt to heal the Colonel, she noticed Teal'c moving around the Colonel toward Daniel. It was taking every bit of her concentration to use the device.

When Teal'c had walked into the library and seen the destruction around the room, he had feared the worst. When he had followed the sounds of Major Carter's tears, he had found his worst fears confirmed. It had taken only the merest second to assess the situation and realize that it had been a very good thing they had found the hand device. Colonel O'Neill lay very near to death, and from a preliminary glance, so did Daniel Jackson. After he gave the device to Major Carter, he moved to assess the other man's condition. He eased him onto his back and attempted to find a pulse. It was there, but barely. He was also hardly breathing. Teal'c looked over at his teammates and knew that Major Carter was going to need to do what she could to heal Daniel Jackson as well. He felt her eyes flick up to him briefly.

"He lives but is extremely weak."

She nodded and refocused her attention on the Colonel. Teal'c took a moment to assess the rest of the situation. Vadim was tending to Tormic who was crying in pain and, Teal'c was certain, extreme mental distress. He had seen the chopped up remains of the symbiote on the ground not far from where Tormic lay. Uncertain as to exactly what had happened, Teal'c put together some of the pieces and let his intuition fill in the blanks. Either Dougrae had truly been evil, or perhaps there was a chance that Tormic had actually been possessed by the Goa'uld. Explanations would have to wait.

Vadim was talking softly to Tormic and assessing his wounds. Teal'c was grateful that the man seemed to be taking everything in stride. Neither of them had all of the details, but it seemed that Vadim was open minded enough to be going with the flow. Tormic was responding to Vadim in between gasps of pain. Teal'c looked back to Major Carter and could see that she was suffering from the strain of using the healing device. He knew her discomfort with using Goa'uld technology, yet he knew she would do everything in her power to heal her teammates. He glanced at O'Neill and could see no visible signs of any improvement. From the amount of blood he saw, Teal'c knew the man was terribly wounded and it was not going to be a simple fix. Looking back down at the archaeologist, Teal'c had a feeling his wounds were also extremely severe, if not so obvious.

Sam focused on her breathing. _In and out. In and out._ She had to focus and count her breaths or she would be likely to stop breathing all together. Exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her as she used the healing device. The knife wound had done a great deal of damage. Way too much damage. She forced herself to heal the most significant injuries first. As worn out as she felt, she knew she could never heal him completely. She'd be lucky to save his life at all. And then there was Daniel. She had to save some strength in reserve for him. Just enough to save them both. That was what she needed. Enough strength to keep them alive. Get some rest, then she could do more. But she had to save them first.

Without any idea of how long she had been working on the Colonel, Sam breathed a sigh of relief as she felt his body finally relax under her repairs. His breathing eased into an almost normal rate and rhythm. She had managed to stop the bleeding and repair the damage to his internal organs. There wasn't much more she could do at the moment. She allowed the device to deactivate and slumped in exhaustion. Teal'c caught her before she could hit the floor.

"Teal'c, help me." She whispered and he wordlessly assisted her over to Daniel's side. With shaking hands, she lifted the device again. Trying to ignore how her hands and the device were covered with the Colonel's blood, Sam attempted to determine how badly Daniel was injured. After a moment, she realized his head injury had been as severe as she'd feared and he was in a coma. Biting her lip, she fought back the feeling of despair and tried to focus on what she was doing. As she had expected, she found significant damage that she would never be able to completely repair.

As she worked, Sam had to fight against thousands of images that were flying into her mind. Images that she was not familiar with. Images from another life. _Jolinar._ Choking back a sob, Sam tried to concentrate on her friend and put aside the alien memories. It had been bad when she had been working on the Colonel and now it was getting unbearable. She couldn't do this. Didn't want to do this. Didn't want to be someone she wasn't. Shaking her head, Sam blinked and stared at Daniel's face, reminding herself over and over again why she was using this device that quite frankly terrified her.

The moment she felt that she had healed him enough that he wouldn't die, she let her hand fall to her side. Teal'c was at her shoulder, holding her up. Feeling his strong hand and realizing what she had just done, Sam shook her head and couldn't stop her tears this time. She whispered, "I can't do that again. I can't do that again. I _never_ want to use that again."

Teal'c tried to soothe her, realizing that she was exhausted after using the healing device for over twenty minutes, but also that using the Goa'uld technology had a traumatizing effect on her. In the time it took her to heal Daniel Jackson, he had cleaned and dressed O'Neill's wound. He stroked her hair and spoke calmly to her, "You do not have to use that device again. You have done what was necessary to heal them. You have done well."

After a few minutes, she relaxed somewhat and straightened up, rubbing her eyes and feeling slightly pathetic. Teal'c just smiled gently at her and she didn't feel quite so bad. She glanced at her teammates and had to admit they didn't really look any better. Looking around a bit more, Sam caught sight of Tormic and someone she didn't recognize. She asked, "Who is this?"

Briefly Teal'c explained what he had gone through and introduced Vadim. They joined the other men and found that Vadim had done a good job of stitching up Tormic's wounds. Tormic appeared unconscious now and there was a small vial next to Vadim's pack; medicine of some sort, Sam assumed. The poor man was going to have trouble lifting his arms for a while, Sam thought, feeling bad that she had been forced to wound him so badly. But at least he was alive and Montu was dead. Vadim nodded to them slowly, pointing to Tormic and making motions indicating conversation. Then he motioned to Teal'c and Sam and himself and nodded.

Teal'c spoke up, "I believe he is indicating that Tormic explained at least some of what occurred."

"He seems very competent." Sam nodded, offering the soldier a smile. "I wish we could speak his language."

"Indeed."

Sam sighed and looked around the room. She just wanted to sleep, but she figured Teal'c would like to be caught up on some of what he missed. So she gave him the nutshell version of what they had been through. Finishing, she glanced around the room at the mess. Shaking her head, she looked at the people around her. "We're going to be here a while. I don't know exactly how long it will take before the canopy will dissipate enough for us to leave." She said softly, "We should try to make them more comfortable."

Teal'c nodded. They had nothing available other than an emergency blanket or two. That would not suffice. He hated the idea of leaving the team, but they were going to need more supplies. "I will return to the level with the living quarters and bring back mattresses and other needed supplies."

Sam nodded. "That's probably a good idea. We can't move any of them." She felt a pang of fear run through her. "I have no idea if they're stable. I know I was able to heal a lot of their injuries, but I couldn't heal them completely."

"You have done well." He said again, then picked up the zat that had been lying next to Daniel Jackson and handed it to her. "Will you be alright until I return?"

She smiled shakily, "I'll be fine, Teal'c."

He nodded and glanced at Vadim. A few creative hand gestures later and the man seemed to get the idea. He rose and bowed slightly to Sam as she laid a gentle hand on Tormic's arm. Vadim pointed at his lapel communicator and then down at Tormic's. Sam touched it and Vadim nodded, speaking into his communicator briefly.

Sam smiled, "Spaseeba, Vadim."

He smiled at her attempt to speak his language and nodded.

Teal'c smiled at her and said, "We will return shortly, Major Carter."

Sam nodded slowly, settling cross legged in between the Colonel and Daniel. She watched Teal'c and Vadim leave, then looked back down at her teammates. It had been too close, way too close. She had felt the very life go out of her when she'd initially seen them. Losing them, either of them..._any_ of them, would be unfathomable. But losing two of them at once would have been too much. She felt the tears coming again and tried to sniff them away. Then she realized she was surrounded by unconscious men and it didn't really matter if she spent a few minutes crying her eyes out.

So she did.


	34. Chapter 34

He could have sworn he'd heard crying. That seemed odd. He had no idea how long ago it had been, but he distinctly remembered it. Deciding not to worry about it, he chose instead to try to figure out what had happened. Everything hurt. Jack struggled to put together a coherent thought or two. Or get his eyes open. Either one would be a good first step to regaining a clue. A clue that might help him figure out where he was and why he hurt so bad. As consciousness slowly began to return, he started getting fleeting memories, images. The more he pushed himself, the more he found clarity. He actually remembered everything. _Kamyen Obyet, T'zabt, Dougrae, Montu._

Jack flinched as he all too vividly remembered Montu driving the knife into his chest. The memories flooded back, almost overwhelming him. _Sam. Daniel._ He was alive, that much was certain. Some miracle had occurred, the likes of which he had not dared hope. But it wasn't enough that he was alive. He needed to know his team was ok. That meant he would have to find the strength somehow to force himself beyond the blackness back to awareness. The pain was bad, but actually not as bad as it could have been. Now that he was waking up, he realized that he didn't feel anywhere near as bad as he should after being skewered the way he had been. He flinched again as he moved slightly. Ok, so he didn't exactly feel great.

He finally got his eyes peeled open. The room was dim and lit occasionally with flashes of lightning, but he could see well enough. He turned his head slowly and caught sight of Teal'c. The Jaffa was sitting a few feet away, locked in conversation with a man Jack didn't recognize. Despite the fact he seemed to be alive, Jack found that he really wasn't up to much after all. Turning his head had been about all he could handle for the moment. Feeling extremely weak, he blinked slowly and tried to bring the others into focus. The other man looked like a Kamyen Obyet soldier and, had Teal'c not been chatting with him so cozily, Jack might have been concerned. A few more blinks and he realized that Tormic was lying on a thin mattress in between the two men and had his chest bandaged. _Huh._ Jack wondered what had happened to him. He had a fleeting moment of near panic, remembering Tormic had been possessed by Montu. But Teal'c didn't look in the least concerned, so Jack decided to trust that Teal'c had the situation under control. A few more minutes of scrutiny revealed that Tormic was translating between the unknown man and Teal'c.

Jack took a careful breath and moved a hand, gauging if he would be able to move or sit up. He groaned loudly. So much for that. That had _hurt._ Hearing movement, Jack glanced back over and saw Teal'c walking over, a smile on his face. Good. He needed some information. Of course, finding his voice was going to be his next challenge.

"O'Neill, it is good to see you awake." Teal'c's voice was gentle and Jack could tell he meant what he said. There was a great deal of relief showing on that usually impassive face.

He nodded slightly and whispered hoarsely, "Good to see you too, Teal'c. Carter? Daniel?"

Not surprised that he immediately wanted to know the status of his team, Teal'c smiled and pointed, "They are both sleeping."

Jack followed his pointing arm and rolled his head to his right with some difficulty. He felt incredible relief at Teal'c's words, but seeing was believing. Carter was alive. She looked a bit bruised and pale, but she was alive. Curled up on a mattress under a pile of blankets, she was sleeping soundly and looked relaxed and peaceful. _Thank God._ He hadn't thought it possible. When that balcony had come down on her, he had been convinced she had been crushed. Taking a shaky breath, he let his gaze slide to Daniel who was a few feet closer to him. He still looked about as healthy as a corpse, but he was breathing too. So he couldn't complain.

Jack looked back at Teal'c and found his voice was a bit stronger now, "Report."

Teal'c quickly recapped what had occurred since he had found Major Carter attempting to stop the bleeding from the Colonel's chest. He could see the relief on O'Neill's face when he described how Major Carter had spared Tormic's life, while ensuring Montu's death. He also explained how he had met the Kamyen Obyet soldier, Vadim.

"Tormic has been able to shed some light on the situation and has been translating for Vadim's benefit. He is already dealing with the mental repercussions of Montu using him as a host." Teal'c shook his head. Tormic had been doing a good job of holding it together, but clearly the experience had left painful scars. It had left him with the nightmarish memories of the Goa'uld on top of the terror of having been controlled by him for so many hours. While Teal'c wouldn't have wished the experience on anyone, he was thankful that the experience had left the man with the ability to communicate in English now. It had made things a bit smoother.

"Vadim is the only soldier remaining of the group sent through the Portal. Many of his team perished in the ocean, as a result of the storms, or in attacks by _Sha. _Based on what Tormic has told him about his experiences here, Vadim is prepared to go back to Kamyen Obyet and defend us and right wrongs done in the past by Montu."

Jack nodded slowly. _Good._ He watched Vadim talking softly to Tormic and felt bad for the guy. He was pleased Carter had managed not to kill Tormic and he was pleased Tormic had turned out to be a decent guy after all. He looked back at Teal'c. "How long?"

"It has been nearly thirteen hours since Major Carter healed your most severe wounds."

Jack glanced back at her, "Is she ok?"

"She is extremely weak." Teal'c said somberly, "The experience was most difficult for her. As soon as Vadim and I returned with the supplies, I instructed her to rest and she has been asleep ever since."

"Good. Daniel?"

"It is difficult to tell. He has awakened several times, for no more than a minute at a time, and has been in great pain."

"He say anything?"

"He has not."

Jack nodded slowly. _Speaking of pain..._ He felt the fire in his chest every time he tried to draw a breath. He looked up at Teal'c and felt himself fading. "I'll check back later." He whispered, barely able to speak.

Teal'c smiled, watching as his friend lost his battle to remain awake, "I shall be here, O'Neill."

* * *

><p>Teal'c turned the device over again. When he had picked it up in the Goa'uld's chamber, he really hadn't been sure why. But he hadn't been about to leave behind anything that might even possibly be of importance. Studying it for the past few hours had not helped him know if it was useful or not. He still hadn't been able to even get it to turn on.<p>

"What's that?"

He turned to O'Neill, pleased to see him awake again. He shrugged, "I am uncertain."

"Looks like a Gameboy." Jack peered at the object. He'd been awake for a few minutes, watching Teal'c. "Hey, help me up."

Teal'c rose and, against his better judgment, helped O'Neill sit up against the wall. He had lost too much blood and was extremely weak, but it was clear that O'Neill wanted to be back in charge of things. He didn't look good, but Teal'c was glad to see that he seemed to be regaining some strength. After he was certain O'Neill wasn't going to fall over, he sat back and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Oh, about as good as I look, I'm sure." Jack muttered, bracing his arm against his chest. He was extremely grateful to Carter for having done what she could to heal him, but his chest still burned in agony. His hand and leg still didn't feel great, either. He grimaced and pointed at the device, "Where'd you find it?"

"In Montu's chamber. I have not yet been able to determine its purpose. When Major Carter rises, perhaps she will be able to solve the puzzle."

"We can hope." Jack glanced over at her. She was still sleeping like the dead and he couldn't blame her.

He grimaced. They could have the luxury of sleeping as much as they wanted now. They had about a week or so, she had predicted, before the canopy would evaporate and let them get home. _Bad guy dead. Team alive_. They had nowhere to be, nothing to do. Kind of felt like a vacation. _A really crappy vacation where half the family got the flu and the other half fell over the side of a mountain_. Jack sighed. A week wasn't bad, but he wouldn't feel comfortable until they were all back at the SGC; preferably in the infirmary.

He looked over at Daniel and saw that his eyes were open. Mostly. Occasionally. Jack spoke up softly, "Hey. You gonna sleep all day?"

"Too noisy to sleep."

Jack smiled, feeling exceptionally relieved to hear his friend's voice; weak as it was. He was coherent enough to joke, which was encouraging. "Hasn't seemed to stop you up to this point."

"Been awake." Daniel countered, "Can't keep my eyes open."

It was true. Jack watched with amusement as his eyes slid shut again.

"How do you feel?" Waiting for an answer, he knew he didn't really need to ask that question. He could see the lines of pain and tension on Daniel's face. Carter had done what she could, but, judging by how bad _he_ still felt, Jack knew Daniel's head had to be killing him. After a moment of silence, he assumed Daniel had fallen asleep again.

"Hit by a tornado, remember?" Daniel finally spoke up, eyes still closed.

Jack grinned, "Still playing that card. You also got your brains scrambled by a ticked off Goa'uld."

"Lucky me." He drew a tentative breath and forced his eyes open again. Breathing hurt at this point, so he tried to do it as carefully as possible. He knew he should be thankful to be alive, but the agony in his head was extreme. He hurt all the way down to his chest; his shoulder still ached but it was mild compared to his head and neck. Everything else seemed completely numb, which was actually kind of nice.

Slowly, memories of what had happened earlier came flooding back. He remembered watching helplessly as Jack bled to death and he sort of remembered a Goa'uld's eyes flashing. Then all he remembered was pain. _Lots of pain_. He looked over at Jack and asked, "So, you decided not to die?"

"Nah. I'm waiting to see what you got me for Christmas. Besides, Carter got here in the nick of time."

"How is she?"

"She's sleeping. A bit worn out after putting us back together."

Relief flooded over Daniel. He could see Teal'c just beyond Jack and now he knew Sam was alive. He let his eyes slide shut again.

* * *

><p><strong>Three days later...<strong>

Jack extended a pack of alien popcorn to Daniel.

"No, no, go ahead. I already ate."

"No you didn't."

"Yes. I did." Daniel waved the wrapper from the crackers he had forced himself to choke down earlier. Apparently Sam didn't approve of his giving up food. She had been understanding the first day when he'd started throwing up when she'd _mentioned _food. Oh yeah, she'd felt bad when he puked on her boots. But now she was being bossy and had nagged him incessantly until he finally agreed to try a cracker. He knew he should be hungry, but with the continual dizziness and the nausea it was causing, his stomach had yet to settle down.

"Crackers don't count." Jack's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"How do crackers not count?"

"Crackers aren't food."

"Jack, you're eating alien popcorn. How is that food?"

"It's food compared to crackers."

"Leave me alone." Daniel waved his hand, "I'm not taking the chance on some alien food that smells awful."

Jack tossed a handful of popcorn, or whatever it really was, into his mouth and tried to plot his next clever retort. He was giving Daniel a hard time purely because it was nice to be able to do that again. He felt bad that the guy was still feeling so terrible that he couldn't eat anything except a few crackers. But it was good to see any signs of improvement. The previous 72 hours had been long, tedious and miserable. Teal'c and Vadim had been getting along well despite the language barrier. Jack was glad that _they_ were having a good time. Carter had been coughing nonstopped, barely functional and, while she'd been thrilled to see they were alive, she hadn't been good company. Daniel had been as sick as a dog and had alternated between blissful unconsciousness and painful awareness. Today seemed to be better. He had actually been sitting up for an hour now which was about fifty minutes longer than he'd been able to sit up at any one time yesterday. And they'd finally convinced him to try to eat something.

Glancing over at Carter, Jack saw that she was having a heart to heart with Tormic. As the days had progressed, the man had grown more anxiety stricken. He had been suffering from nightmares and flashbacks after his possession. A few hours ago, she had started talking with him about his experience They'd been chatting ever since. Jack couldn't hear them, but he was glad she seemed to be able to open up to Tormic. He still remembered how badly she had been traumatized after Jolinar had died. That had been one of the worst experiences they had gone through as a team. It still was hard on her at times, but she did seem to be doing better. Now, it looked like she was able to use that experience to help another poor soul who had never asked to be kidnapped and held hostage in their own body.

Shaking his head, he realized Daniel was looking a little ill. In fact, he was looking a bit close to passing out. Frowning, he asked, "You ok?"

Daniel squeezed his eyes closed, "I think I better lie down." He pointed an accusing finger at Jack, "And that stuff smells really awful."

Jack rolled up the bag and tucked it away. "Sorry." He eased himself up and moved over next to Daniel. "Well, it was a new record. You've been vertical for a whole hour." He helped ease Daniel back down, clenching his jaw against the pain in his chest. It would have been better if he'd had Teal'c to help him, but he and Vadim had gone on a patrol to check the halls. Daniel immediately rolled onto his side, breathing carefully, a hand to his head.

"Sir!" Carter suddenly appeared at his side. She helped get Daniel settled. "You should have called me."

Jack sat back against the wall and tried to breathe without gasping in pain. "Thanks, Carter."

She smiled at him and then looked down at Daniel, "How are you feeling?"

"Oh, let's see. Awful." Daniel put his fists against his head.

"My popcorn threw him over the edge." Jack mentioned regretfully. It did have a rather strong garlicky odor to it, now that he thought of it. It didn't taste anything like garlic, but that was neither here nor there.

Sam threw him a reproachful look, then looked back at Daniel. "I'm sorry, Daniel. You feeling better now that you're lying down?"

He shrugged. It was not a good idea to talk at the moment. He was concentrating too hard on not puking his guts up. _Again._

Sam watched him for a moment, grateful that at least he had kept down the crackers so far. He'd been tolerating any liquid she could force him to try, but this was the first time she'd been able to get him to eat anything. Sighing, she slid over against the wall next to the Colonel. _My other problem child, _she thought with a slight smile. He had been continuing to push himself each day and she knew he wanted to be out roaming the halls with Teal'c. He hated being out of commission and unable to be doing something. If this lasted much longer, he was going to go completely crazy and so would she.

"How did things go with Tormic?" His soft voice interrupted her thoughts.

She looked over at the Kamyen Obyet man who was staring out a window across the room where she had just been sitting with him. He had been quite distraught, but their conversation seemed to have helped. "He's pretty upset."

"I'll bet."

"He's been very traumatized. Having to kill your own grandfather who was host to a Goa'uld would be bad enough."

"But getting taken over by the Goa'uld _after_ killing your own grandfather," Jack shook his head, "That has to be a whole new level of trauma."

"Yes, sir. Tormic has been having a lot of flashbacks and memories." She spoke softly, her own memories of her possession by Jolinar haunting her yet again. "He really is having trouble coming to terms with everything. But we talked through all of it. He thanked me for sharing." She looked over at him sadly, then back at the Colonel. "He'll be ok, I think. It's just going to take time. A lot of time."

Jack sensed her own inner struggle with the subject and touched her hand. She sighed and didn't pull away. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and felt her head drop onto his shoulder.

He smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>Three more days later...<strong>

"O'Neill, I do not believe it would be wise."

"Ah Teal'c, give me a break." Jack leaned up against the Glider, his arm across his chest. "I've been cooped up for almost a week. I'm sick of it. I want to take one for a spin."

Teal'c frowned disapprovingly. "You should not have come up here at all." He had not been pleased with the idea of O'Neill accompanying Vadim and he up to the Glider hangar. But the Colonel had insisted and when Major Carter had given up trying to dissuade him, so had Teal'c.

"Teal'c, stop being my mother." Jack smiled, "I'm fine." He got back a trademark Teal'c glare and rolled his eyes. He looked back at the hangar. Five shiny Death Gliders. More than he could have hoped for. "We've got a ride home. It's a good day."

"Indeed." Teal'c had been extremely pleased when Major Carter had managed to turn on the device he had found in Montu's chambers. It had turned out to be some sort of a map of the city. It would have been nice to have had a long time ago, but he wasn't going to complain. It had led them to the hanger and now they had a mode of transportation back to the Gate. None of his companions would have been able to walk all the way to the Gate. Teal'c wasn't sure he would be able to either. So it was wonderful to know they wouldn't need to.

Teal'c turned his attention back to the Colonel. He looked exhausted after their walk up to the hangar. He had been gaining strength each day and had been feeling quite well today. But even though they had not walked far to the transporters, it had worn him out. Vadim was pouring over one of the Gliders, fascinated and clearly as eager to take one out as O'Neill was. The Colonel noticed as well and motioned to the man.

"Teal'c, don't be a big meanie. Go take the man for a spin." He took a few steps back and eased down to the ground against the wall. "If you won't let me go, you might as well let him have some fun."

"If you believe you will be alright." Teal'c said, realizing that if he left, the Colonel might actually fall asleep for a while.

Jack closed his eyes, knowing exactly what Teal'c was thinking. "I'll be fine. Go play with your friend."

Teal'c smiled and walked over to Vadim.

* * *

><p>"Daniel, I really think you're overdoing it."<p>

"I haven't done anything in days. I can't possibly be _overdoing_ anything." He didn't even care if she knew he was lying. At this point, doing anything beyond sitting and not moving was overdoing it. But he was completely and totally sick of sitting and doing nothing. He was bored.

Sam just looked at him with that disapproving look of hers.

"Sam, I'm sitting here looking at an alien device. How can that be overdoing it?"

"Daniel." Sam sighed dramatically. She'd recently had this same conversation with the Colonel and been soundly defeated. She'd washed her hands of him and left him to Teal'c. Which meant she was stuck with Daniel which wasn't any less stressful. He'd been studying the writing on the outside of the pedestal for about an hour now. "There is no reality where you and an alien device _don't _equal overdoing it."

He smiled. "Hand me my journal, please."

Sam just rolled her eyes. She handed him his journal. She'd just sit back and wait. He'd wear himself out before long. It had happened before. As soon as he had the journal, he was scribbling in it. Tracing her hand along the edge of the pedestal, Sam hoped Daniel would get it to work. She remembered his disappointment when he hadn't been able to spend more time studying the meeting place of the Four Great Races. So far, this pedestal wasn't operable, but she'd started tearing it apart yesterday. She peered into the inner workings of the pedestal again. It really didn't look promising. Glancing around the device, Sam noticed that Daniel had already dropped his pen into his journal and closed the book.

"Daniel?"

He smiled ruefully at her. "I don't have all the resources I need to translate this. Did you get pictures of all of it?"

"I did." She could see how discouraged and disappointed he was. Smiling, she slid around closer to him. "Tormic and Vadim are going to tell the whole story to the Kamyen Obyet rulers. They're pretty confident that the government will still be open to negotiations with us. Especially since we've taken care of their long-standing Goa'uld problem. You'll be able to come back here. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks, Sam." He glanced over to where Tormic was wandering aimlessly up and down the shelves. "How's he doing?"

"Better. Ready to go home and forget about all of this."

"I'll bet."

"I should try to use the healing device on him." Sam said softly. She had been silently kicking herself for days now because she hadn't gotten up the nerve to use the device again. Everyone but Vadim needed it. Teal'c was doing better after quite a few extended periods of Kel'no'reem, but Daniel and the Colonel were still in rough shape. And Tormic was still in a lot of pain himself. She'd stitched up his wounds as best as possible, but she wasn't sure it had been enough.

Daniel could tell she was conflicted and he knew why. Teal'c had subtly mentioned how difficult using the device had been for her. Daniel took her hand. "Sam. Please. You don't need to worry about it. You saved all of our lives. We couldn't ask for more. I wouldn't expect you to do that ever again; I know how hard it was on you." He watched her and saw her closing in on herself. She was doubting herself again. She'd been doing that too much lately.

"Sam, what's going on with you?"

She looked at him and threw it right back at him, "What's going on with _you_?"

"I asked first."

Sighing, Sam looked away. "Nothing, Daniel."

"Stop lying to us."

"You stop lying to me."

Daniel smiled. "Deal. I still asked first."

Sam took a deep breath. "I guess I've just been struggling lately. I've made some mistakes."

"You're too hard on yourself, Sam."

She smiled, "That's basically what the Colonel said."

"Oh?" Daniel returned her smile. "He's been getting rather chatty of late, hasn't he?"

"A bit." She paused, thinking back to her chat with the Colonel. "In his own less than eloquent way, he helped."

"Yeah, he has a way...with few words." Daniel grinned. "So he help get your head back in the game?"

"He did, actually. I can't say I'm fine with things that have happened, but I think I've regained a little perspective." She pointed at him. "What about you?"

Daniel shrugged, "Maybe a little."

He didn't seem to want to go on, so Sam braved dangerous waters and verbalized what she'd been suspecting for a long time now. "Sha're?" She saw the pain flicker across his face and almost regretted saying her name. But clearly he still needed some help taking the next step forward. "Daniel, I know you don't want to talk about this. I'm so sorry, but I can't help but think you've been, I don't know, pulling away."

He nodded. How many times was he going to have to have this conversation? He said, "I know."

"Why?"

"Sam, I don't know why I've been here this long. I was happy on Abydos. The only reason I got a job here was because I'd been out there for a year. I stayed to find Sha're." He paused. His head hurt too much to be doing this. "I never intended to stay once...once we found her."

"I know."

"Now...now I don't know what to do."

"What's wrong with what you've been doing?"

"Nothing." He smiled slightly. "That's just it. I love what I'm doing. I love being on the team. But somehow I just can't..."

"Convince yourself of what you already know?"

"More words of wisdom from Jack?"

"Nope. All mine this time. Am I right?"

He nodded slowly. "I keep thinking this feeling will go away."

"Give yourself a break, Daniel. And more time." Sam said gently. "Nobody expects you to be fine all the time. And nobody expects you to do anything you don't want to." She took a deep breath and touched his hand, "Daniel, I don't want to lose you and I don't want you to leave. Ever. But if you need to take a break, or if you find something that makes you happier, I want you to do it."

He studied her silently. He hated talking about this, but he had to admit that a knot in his chest had begun to loosen. Every one of his teammates had helped to work on that knot. It wasn't gone yet, but it was starting to feel a bit better. He smiled at her, "You ever consider becoming a therapist, Sam?"

"Nah." She grinned. "This is special. Only for you, Daniel. Anyone else was this much of a basket case and I'd have just shot them by now."

* * *

><p><strong>Day 7 of waiting...<strong>

"I really don't think this is a good idea."

Daniel ignored him. He was using all of his concentration at the moment just to stay upright. He wasn't sure that it was a good idea either. But he wasn't about to back down now. So he just waved Jack away.

"Fine." Jack said, heading out the door. "You fall and pass out in a pool of your own blood, I am _not_ going to come back and pick you up."

Grateful that Jack had finally stopped talking and left the room, Daniel nevertheless started regretting his decision. Once he'd caught wind of the shower facilities, he'd decided they sounded like a great idea. It was close to noon now and it had taken him several hours of repeated attempts before he'd been able to convince Jack to help him get to the showers. It hadn't been easy walking all the way and, now that he was here, he wasn't sure it had been worth it after all. He leaned against the wall and stared across the cubicle to the water. Earlier, he'd thought the nausea and dizziness had receded a bit. Now, he knew better. _It had seemed like such a good idea_...

* * *

><p>Jack paced the hallway. Daniel had twisted his arm and argued with him all morning until he'd finally given up. Just because they were all starting to recover somewhat didn't mean any of them were up to a lot of strenuous activity. Daniel was still barely tolerating sitting up for an hour at a time; he certainly didn't need to be doing much more than that. Jack hadn't really wanted to let Daniel know about the showers, but Carter had blown it when she'd shown up yesterday with wet hair. She'd been religiously hitting the showers every day. <em>For an exceptionally long time<em>. It was a good thing T'zabt seemed to have an unending supply of hot water, that was all he had to say about it. But it had seemed to help her bring up a lot of the junk in her lungs. He couldn't blame Daniel for wanting a shower; heaven knew _he_ felt better after getting a shower. But he'd actually figured Daniel wouldn't be able to make it all the way down the hall. Wrong. Now, he had been pointedly dismissed and had nothing better to do but wait.

After almost forty-five minutes, Jack had enough of the waiting. He'd heard the water finally turn off and decided it was time to see if he needed to pick anyone up off the floor.

* * *

><p>"Don't tell Sam."<p>

Jack snorted, "I'm not going to _have_ to tell her."

Daniel looked up at him briefly, then ducked his head down again; water running from his still wet hair and hitting the ground. "What do you mean?"

"Daniel, she's gonna take one look at you and know what happened." Jack watched as Daniel tried valiantly not to throw up again. They'd almost made it back to the transporter before he had passed out, then come awake vomiting. "Your face is the color of chalk."

_I told you so_ was on repeat in his head, but he was sympathetic enough to keep it on mute. He just hoped that Daniel thought the shower had been worth losing his breakfast over.

* * *

><p>"Carter, I don't get it."<p>

Sam took a deep breath, bracing herself for the worst. She looked up from where she had just finished redressing Tormic's wounds. The Colonel had been occupied for all of ten minutes, engrossed in a game of Hangman with Teal'c. She'd been grateful for the reprieve. As each day passed, she found him growing more and more impatient and, quite frankly, annoying. She smiled at Tormic, and wrapped up the soiled dressings. Summoning her courage, she asked, "What don't you get, sir?"

"I don't get the time thing."

She'd been trying to prepare for this question. _There was no way to prepare for this question._ "Well, sir."

"I mean, how is it possible that we're in here having the worst two weeks of our lives, and out there..." He waved his hand around, "The SGC is having a typical day? I don't get it."

"I know, sir. It's complicated."

"And so, what, we're all gonna be two weeks older? Cuz that just is so wrong."

Sam nodded and tossed the dressings into their makeshift garbage bin. She headed over to the others. "Yes, sir. Technically, we'll be two weeks older, but we really aren't going to notice..."

"But that's all? Right? Two weeks or so? Not years."

"Not years." _Assuming I'm even halfway correct about the canopy dissipation,_ Sam thought to herself. _Oh boy_.

"So you have a technical reason for all of this mangling of time?"

"I do."

"Do I want to hear it?"

"Probably not."

"Do you want to tell me about it?" He smiled brightly.

"No, sir, I really don't."

* * *

><p><strong>Two <strong>**_very_**** long days later...**

"Can we go home _yet_, Carter?" Jack asked over the communicator that Tormic had been letting him use. Carter had gone up to the observatory to check out the canopy controls while Teal'c had gone back to the hanger to take a Glider up. They'd been testing the strength of the canopy for the past three days, waiting for their chance to leave. The storms had started up again, but didn't seem quite as furious in intensity. _Yet._ "It's been _well_ over a week now"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Jack, she told you a week was a rough estimate."

"How long have we been on this planet, Daniel? I've missed several weeks of very important sporting events."

Carter's voice came over the communicator before Daniel could speak up, "Sir, It looks like we might be able to leave tomorrow! The canopy has dissipated and Teal'c almost made it through."

"Good. You sure we can't just punch through a little harder?"

"Sir, the engines started to fail when he pushed it. But according to the readings, the canopy will be completely down sometime tomorrow."

"Good, because this stopped being any kind of fun a very long time ago."

"I know, sir. We'll be back shortly."

"Copy that." He smiled. Another day. He could handle that. He reshuffled the cards in his hands and frowned over at Daniel. "You gonna sit there all day or are you going to play your royal flush so we can just get this over with?"

Daniel simply glared at him over his glasses and slowly, _unnecessarily_ slowly Jack thought, rearranged the cards in his hand.

"It's not chess, you realize? This should not be taking you so long."

Laying down the cards that somehow Jack had known he had, Daniel remarked, "Got somewhere you need to be?"

"Fishing." Jack replied without hesitation. He was going to lose this hand. _Just like the last five. _It wasn't fair. Daniel had a massive concussion and still couldn't sit up straight. How could he possibly keep winning? Jack shook his head. "As soon as Janet springs us I'm going fishing. You coming?"

"I don't know." Daniel hesitated, focusing more on his cards than the conversation.

"Got somewhere you need to be?"

"What?"

"What?"

Daniel drew a card.

"Well you're wrong."

Daniel looked up curiously. Either he'd seriously zoned out or Jack had just taken an abrupt turn into left field. _Nothing unusual there._ He played his cards and said, "Excuse me. Did I miss part of this conversation somehow?"

"What conversation?"

"Jack."

"Daniel?"

"Stop it. My head hurts too much to play games with you."

"So, no more Poker?" Jack played his cards, knowing he was pushing his luck. "Sorry. But you're still wrong."

"Wrong about _what_?"

"Wrong about feeling like you're not accomplishing anything. You are." He studiously avoided looking at Daniel and dropped his card. "Oh, you're also wrong about thinking the grass is greener on some other hill on some other alien planet. Grass is green anywhere you go. Same stuff."

Daniel narrowed his eyes.

"I'm just sayin'."

"I don't know _what_ you're saying."

Jack glared at him. "You know exactly what I'm saying."

"Why don't you just spit it out?" Daniel shot back. He hadn't been lying when he'd said his head hurt too much for this. The painkillers Sam was giving him weren't making a dent in the pain. He'd been more than happy that he and Jack hadn't gotten into any fights lately. He really didn't feel like arguing and he did _not _want to endure any more amateur psychotherapy, thank you very much.

Jack realized he had just crossed that line again. But it was too late to go back now. So he spit it out. "You're wrong if you think leaving is going to solve anything."

Daniel was silent for a long moment, then looked back at his cards. "Who said anything about leaving?"

"Daniel, you haven't had to _say_ anything."

"I told you I didn't want to leave."

"You have a tendency to exaggerate."

Daniel threw down his cards. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I don't want there to be any confusion." Jack took a slow breath. He didn't really want to have a shouting match. That wasn't why he'd started down this path in the first place. But as usual, he was floundering when it counted. Couldn't they just knock back a few beers and call it good? He looked up at Daniel who was rubbing his head. He sighed.

"You know I'm no good at this talking thing. I'd rather shoot you than talk to you."

"Gee thanks." Daniel muttered, still holding his head, "Sam basically said the same thing."

"So I'm just going to leave it at that."

Daniel stared at him for a very long time. "At what? Jack, I don't have a clue what this has all been about so I don't know if you're trying to make me feel better about something or not, but I think you _would've_ been further ahead just to shoot me. At least my head wouldn't be pounding any more."

"I'm _trying _to tell you that I think you're right where you belong. But if you really think there's somewhere else you want to be..." Jack hesitated for a second, then forged ahead, "If you ask me, I'll let you go. Different team, archaeological dig on some remote moon, long lost library buried under a ton of sand, whatever. If you think it would help, fine. But you'll be wrong and I'll still be right. I won't like it and when you come back, I guarantee I_will_ be saying I told you so. Often. Repeatedly. Incessantly. Every chance I get."

Daniel considered his words, "_When_ I come back?"

"When."

"Not _if_?"

"Not if."

Daniel studied Jack for a long moment. Long enough that the other man started shuffling the deck and avoiding looking up. Daniel smiled. He felt suddenly at peace. Jack was terrible at this sort of thing, but he was also pretty darned good at it. Which only made sense if you really knew him well, which Daniel did. He hadn't said much, and what he _had _said certainly hadn't been an eloquent speech that an outsider would have thought meant anything. But it meant a lot to Daniel. As long as Jack was willing to throw him backhanded compliments and murky but meaningful expressions of friendship, Daniel knew all was well in the world. It had never been about words with them. He watched as Jack dealt the cards, still not looking up.

"So, fishing?"

Jack glanced up, watching Daniel rearrange his cards. He could see the slight smile on his friend's face. _Ah, message received loud and clear._ "Fishing?"

"Sounds like fun."


	35. Chapter 35

Jack couldn't help but smile. Apparently the Kamyen Obyet didn't do much flying. He could see Tormic's face, alive with excitement as they flew over a sweeping valley. Even though the man was in pain, thanks to the rather balanced job of stabbing him that Carter had done, he couldn't have looked happier. Every time he checked in with Carter, Jack could hear Tormic's happy chatter in the background, his head going from side to side as he attempted to see everything all at once. Vadim, on the other hand, had been curiously silent ever since they'd taken off. Jack couldn't see over his shoulder, but he would have placed a large bet that Vadim had his eyes tightly shut and was hanging on for dear life in the rear seat. That day Teal'c had first taken him up in the Glider, he'd come back looking more than a little terrified. He hadn't been overly thrilled to have to get in the Glider again this evening, either.

At least he hadn't been puking his guts up since they'd left the hangar, Jack mused. He looked in the other direction and saw Teal'c expertly flying on his right. Daniel had his head up, the first time so far on the trip. He didn't look like he was enjoying the flight any more than Vadim was. Jack hit the Glider's communicator.

"Daniel?"

"Are we there yet?"

The reply had been faint, but Jack caught the hint of humor underlying the genuine desire to be on solid ground again. He nodded, "You'll be unconscious in the infirmary within the hour."

"Promises, promises."

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later, and they could see the Gate. Sam couldn't remember the last time she'd been so thrilled to see the Gate. Her heart pounded and she smiled. Not long now and they'd be home. Even though she'd been having a relatively good time looking around T'zabt and checking out the technology these past few days, she was ready to crawl into a cozy bed and let Janet work her magic. She hadn't been coughing as badly, but her chest hurt and she felt completely run down. Easing the Glider down in an open field near the Gate, Sam saw the Colonel and Teal'c landing nearby.<p>

"You will be happy to return to your world." Tormic stated from the rear seat.

"Yes." She said without hesitation. "This has been a difficult experience."

"I understand."

She could detect a note of pain in his voice as she opened the hatch. Once she had climbed out of her seat, she reached over to help him out. He kept his arms close to his chest, still in too much pain to use them much. Assisting him to the ground, Sam kept a hand on his shoulder as they headed toward the others. She smiled, "Tormic, I know this has been difficult for you too."

He nodded slowly, his face looking years older and troubled. "Major Carter, I am grateful to you for your support. I do not know what I would have done if you had not shared your own experience with me. I would have despaired of hope."

"It gets better." She said softly, "It takes a long time, but it gets better. It just takes time and good friends to help." She thought back to how terrible she had felt after her own possession by Jolinar. It had taken her teammates, Janet and Cassie to pull her through the confusion, pain, and nightmares. "You'll probably have nightmares for a long time to come; memories you think are your own, but they aren't. Talk to someone, ok? Don't let them overpower you."

Tormic smiled wanly as they walked, "I shall. I believe Vadim and I will be spending a lot of time together in the near future. We have worked together in the past and it will take both of us to explain all that has happened to the Elders."

"Good." Sam nodded, "We would definitely like to continue to explore diplomatic relations with your people."

He shook his head slowly, "You would still consider this after all that has happened to you because of my own people's mistakes?"

Sam smiled, thinking of her conversations with her teammates. "Mistakes happen. Believe me, we understand that. But it's what you do _after_ you make the mistake that counts. You either let it defeat you, or you learn from it and use it to make you stronger."

"You are very wise."

"Not really; I've just had a lot of mistakes to learn from." She grinned.

* * *

><p>"Aw, look at that." Jack pointed, "Carter made a new friend. Big surprise. What is it with her and alien men?" He and Daniel were following the others as they headed toward the Gate. Teal'c and Vadim had taken point as Carter and Tormic joined the group. Watching Sam's conversation with Tormic, Jack shook his head. Clearly, she had a new admirer. "He is <em>not<em> coming home with us."

"Jealous?"

Jack's head snapped to the left to glare at Daniel. He considered chewing him out for the implication behind his statement, then thought better of it. Daniel wasn't looking so great. He didn't have his eyes open and he was stumbling along very unsteadily. Grabbing his arm, Jack just muttered, "Didn't I tell you to shut up?"

"Not recently."

"My mistake."

Daniel smiled tiredly and looked around for a moment, before letting his eyes slide shut again. It was much better with his eyes closed. "Besides, she's not the only one who made a friend."

Jack nodded. He was right. Teal'c and Vadim seemed to have found a lot of common ground, even without the benefit of a common language. They had been pestering Tormic and Daniel for translations over the past few days. He couldn't ever remember having to tell Teal'c to cool it, but he'd actually had to do that a couple times. Of course, Tormic and Daniel had been more than thrilled to learn about opposite cultures, so they'd been translating even when they should have been resting. Jack had finally had to send Teal'c and Vadim out on a few patrols just to give the other two time to rest. He shook his head. Watching the two alien soldiers exchanging halting farewells was just so darned funny. He'd never have guessed _Teal'c_ would have found a new friend. He just wasn't exactly the _friendly_ type.

Jack looked over toward the Gate. Sure enough, their landing had caused something of a stir in the town. The Gate was near a rather small village on the far outskirts of the main town. They'd been expecting some company when they arrived at the Gate, so he wasn't surprised. Even so, as glad as he'd been to get to the Gate, tension was beginning to build in his muscles. They could still run into trouble with the natives. Nobody spoke; they'd spent time earlier in the day planning for this. Of course, things didn't tend to go according to plan, but so far no one had shot at them. Tormic and Vadim had been confident they would be able to convince the local officials to allow SG1 to leave, but there was always that terrible chance that things could go wrong.

_As usual._

Drawing nearer to the Gate, Vadim raised his arms and started speaking rapidly. A small group of armed officers were approaching. They held their weapons at the ready, but weren't threatening. They lowered them after a moment as Vadim apparently got through to them. Tormic walked forward and joined the conversation. Teal'c hadn't relaxed his guard and neither had Carter. Jack had a firm grip on his blaster and asked softly, "Can you make out anything they're saying?"

He watched the group in front of him closely and waited for a reply from Daniel. After a second, he glanced at him and realized they _really_ needed to get through the Gate. From the way Daniel was looking, he wasn't going to be upright much longer.

"Sorry, Jack." His voice was the merest breath of a whisper as he started to list to the side, head hanging.

"Carter!" Jack shouted, pulling Daniel's arm over his shoulder, "We need to go."

Sam glanced over her shoulder and saw why he was so concerned. He was slowly moving toward the Gate, practically dragging Daniel. She looked back at Tormic who was locked in a heated conversation. "Tormic?"

He looked over at her with a smile. "They have agreed to allow you to leave. We will consider further diplomatic relations after some deliberation. We must meet with the Council and explain all that has occurred."

Sam grinned, exceptionally relieved. "Thank you, Tormic! Thank you so much."

He smiled back at her and lifted his hand slightly to clasp hers. "It has been my pleasure, Major Carter. I would very much look forward to seeing you again."

Teal'c and Vadim exchanged their final goodbyes at the same time as Jack and Daniel drew closer. Jack nodded at the two men. He paused for a second, "Tormic, Vadim, thanks for the help. You two going to be ok?"

"We shall be fine, Colonel O'Neill. We have nothing but gratitude to your team for all the assistance."

Jack nodded and started walking again, "Give us a call when you're ready to talk trade."

Tormic and Vadim bowed slightly as they walked off.

"He was really a pretty decent guy." Carter said, hurrying to catch up. "I hope he's going to be ok."

Jack glanced at her and grinned, "Carter, do you have a little black book to keep track of all these alien guys who want to date you?"

She looked at him with some annoyance. "Sir, Tormic did not want to date me."

"Yes he did."

"No, sir, he did not."

"Teal'c, did Tormic want to date Carter?"

"Indeed."

"See?" Jack asked, enjoying the flush that came over her face. She refused to look at him, rushing to the DHD. Jack grinned, "Dial us home, Sam."

She hit the buttons with a bit more enthusiasm than necessary, her face burning, "With pleasure, sir."

* * *

><p>General Hammond sighed, looking at his watch. Just about time now. Good. He needed some good news. It had been an insane twenty-four hours. SG2 had brought back some sort of a seed on their boots that had unleashed a mild HAZMAT situation in the Gateroom. Apparently, the seed had reacted with something in the environment and caused an eruption of a fine blue mist. It had taken a good five hours to scrub the air. No, it hadn't caused any real harm, but it had caused a lot of confusion and concern there for a while.<p>

He rubbed his eyes. It was getting late in the evening and he hadn't slept much last night. Little wonder; he'd only fielded about ten calls from Walter. There had been some sort of an electronic disturbance that had caused many issues with the computers and had affected the Gate for a short time. Then Dr. Lee had discovered a slight issue with a sample that SG10 had discovered on P38-2594. It wasn't just an innocuous metal shard. It was a gravitational device of some sort and had caused most of the scientific floor to experience extreme gravity that disturbed their devices. And that hadn't been all but he'd lost track of all the other mini-disasters they'd gone through.

"Incoming Wormhole."

He heard the announcement over the intercom as the Gate began to spin. Rising, he headed out of his office into the conference room. _Right on time._ He smiled. SG1 was on time for a change. That was a novelty. If they ever did _call_ on time it was because either Major Carter or Dr. Jackson was pressuring the Colonel to ask for more time as they wanted to investigate some wonder or another. But this had been a simple diplomatic mission. For once, it seemed that they had caught a break. A race willing to share and trade with them. Everyone had been excited about this one and he expected that they had been enjoying their time in Kamyen Obyet. They had been expected to spend the evening and most of the day doing more investigating and making nice with the government.

He smiled and walked into the Gateroom as the wormhole coalesced. He stood at the end of the ramp, waiting expectantly. A few seconds later and his flagship team walked through the Gate. Hammond felt his smile fade instantly. Somehow, his team didn't look like they'd had a very good day either. In fact, they looked half-dead.

Teal'c looked about the best, but clearly he had not been well of late. Major Carter walked through with him and, while the astrophysicist looked pale and ill, she was smiling widely. They walked to the end of the ramp and she immediately sat down on the steps. Hammond opened his mouth to speak, then the other half of the team came through the Gate. This had not been such a good mission, after all.

"Did you miss us, sir?" Colonel O'Neill called out jauntily.

Hammond nodded, having trouble finding his voice. The Colonel and Dr. Jackson both looked like they had had more than a passing brush with death. Jack's voice might have been chipper, but he was limping and looked terrible. Hammond would have called for medics, except he'd already heard the request go out over the loudspeaker, thanks to the always on top of things Walter. He watched as Jack eased the archaeologist down to the ramp; clearly they were both at the end of their stamina. Jack leaned down as Daniel tried to tell him something. Hammond couldn't quite make out what he said, but Jack smiled and nodded, holding up his watch.

"Within the hour, as promised." Jack watched as Daniel lost his battle to remain conscious. He sat down next to him and looked up wearily, "General Hammond. I'd like to request we debrief after a visit to our fine infirmary."

"Son, you can have a first class ride to the infirmary." He said as Dr. Frasier and her troops arrived, "I'm very eager to hear what happened since yesterday."

Jack rubbed his neck, "Oh not much happened since yesterday, sir. But we were busy in the seventeen days _before _yesterday." He glanced at Carter, "Or was it eighteen?"

"_Seventeen days_?" Hammond repeated, completely lost.

"Long story." Carter said from the steps, looking up with a smile. "Very, very long story."

* * *

><p>Jack knew he'd been worried, but he hadn't realized exactly how much tension he'd been carrying around for the past few weeks until Daniel had dropped on the ramp. That was the moment he realized it was a very good thing they were home and he didn't have to hold it together any more. Watching as Janet and her nurses swooped in over his team, Jack had allowed himself to sit down and let someone else take over the worrying for a while.<p>

He had to smile thinking of how quickly Teal'c had been rushed to bed and hooked up to monitors of every sort. It had all been so innocent. Jack had just been running Janet through a brief overview of their trip and injuries they'd sustained while she tried to figure out how badly she needed to panic over Daniel's still form. But when she heard about the possible injury to the symbiote, she'd bundled Teal'c off to bed STAT. Teal'c never even had a chance to complain. It had been kind of funny watching everyone's reaction, especially considering that he knew how bad Teal'c had looked several days ago. Now, he just looked a bit pale.

After a few hours of fussing and tests, Teal'c was Kel'no'reeming in the corner bed. Carter was snuggled under blankets in the bed next to his. She'd been out like a light as soon as she'd hit the sheets. Jack had pestered the nurse until she'd told him that she was going to be fine. They'd used up all of their antibiotics a few days ago, and he'd been worried she was getting worse again. Now, she was hooked up to an IV of antibiotics and just plain exhausted. Jack couldn't blame her. He was exhausted too. He was so exhausted that he only just noticed that he was getting refilled with a quart or two of blood.

_Huh._

He blinked slowly at the bag and wondered when exactly that had appeared. He certainly didn't remember it, although he vaguely remembered Janet saying he'd lost a lot of blood. Shaking his head a few times to clear it, he tried to stay awake. After they'd gotten somewhat settled, Jack had given Hammond an abbreviated report so he would at least know the basic gist of what they had gone through. If Janet would just hurry up and tell him some good news about Daniel, he could happily succumb to the pull of exhaustion and those good drugs he'd been given.

Glancing to his right, he saw Daniel, pale as a ghost except for the dark circles under his eyes. He hadn't stirred since he'd hit the ground. Jack looked around the infirmary again for Janet. Between running tests on Teal'c and Daniel, she had been flying around the infirmary like a humming bird, never staying in one place for more than a moment at a time. Tapping his fingers on the bed, Jack tried to find patience as he waited for her. She'd promised him that as soon as she had her test results back, he'd be the first to know. He knew she meant it, but he was tired, slightly irritable and still somewhat concerned. She could hurry it up...

"Colonel O'Neill."

_Finally_. He looked up at her, "Well?"

She smiled, "He's stable."

"I can see that." Jack said, a bit sharply. "He's so stable he hasn't twitched a muscle in hours. I'd like to know when he's going to be up to fishing."

"Not for several days." She shook her head and pulled up a chair.

"That bad?" Jack's drumming fingers stilled. He felt a sense of foreboding when she sat down. Sitting down meant she had bad news. He hadn't meant to be so sharp with her, but now he was feeling even more concerned, "What's wrong?"

"Sir, I've been on my feet for almost eighteen hours. I was lucky to eat breakfast." She smiled and blew out a long breath. "Sorry, I just really, really needed to sit down. Daniel's going to be fine."

Jack smiled, "Yeah?"

"Not fine enough for fishing yet, but he'll get there." She sobered, "If Sam hadn't been able to use the healing device on you and Daniel, you'd both be dead. His MRI showed some of the damage she'd healed. There's still a lot of swelling from the original injury, but it's healing well. Now that he can just rest he'll do better."

"Good."

"And that's what I expect him to be doing." She shook a finger at him. "Sleeping. Undisturbed. For several days."

Jack frowned, "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm tired too, and you just said I almost died..."

"I realize that, but I also know you very well, sir." Janet smiled, tiredly. She shook her head, "You'll sleep well tonight, thanks to some hefty drugs, but you'll be driving me utterly crazy by tomorrow."

* * *

><p><strong>Two days later...<strong>

The little dictator was standing in front of him…all five feet not much of her. She had her hands on her hips and her most serious expression of disapproval on her face. She continued, "I would've kicked you out yesterday except I knew you wouldn't leave. But you've made a nuisance of yourself and I'm formally evicting you."

"_Evicting? _Don't you mean discharging?"

"I do not. I discharged Teal'c on good behavior. _You_, I'm evicting." Janet said without a drop of hesitation, "I actually have sick patients here who, whether they like it or not do need to rest. You may leave and return this afternoon to visit."

It was as pointed a dismissal as Jack had ever heard. She stared him down for a long minute, while he failed to come up with a suitably stinging retort. He was sure his mouth had fallen open and was collecting flies. Janet just smiled. _Smugly_. She was smiling _smugly_ at him as she turned on her heel and walked away. Shaking his head slowly, Jack turned and decided he might as well go. Since Teal'c had skipped town earlier, he had been left without a chess partner. Carter was enjoying her sleep too much and Daniel couldn't concentrate for five minutes straight or stay awake for more than ten, leaving Jack incredibly bored.

"I'm _so_ glad I was awake for that."

Jack turned around and glared at Daniel who was sleepily smiling at him. Knowing Carter was still asleep, Jack spoke softly, "Oh go back to sleep. You fall asleep every time we start talking, why'd you decide to wake up now?"

Daniel ignored him and asked, "What did you do to annoy Janet this time?"

"Nothing. She's just being her mean old self."

"Jack."

"Daniel."

"You like to irritate her." Daniel smiled, trying to wake up. "What time is it?"

"Almost eleven." Jack dropped into the chair next to his bed, absently rubbing his sore hand. "How're you feeling?"

"Ready to get out of here."

"Want me to get you evicted too?"

Daniel smiled, "No thank you. I like to stay on Janet's good side."

"She has a good side? I'm pretty sure I've never seen a good side..."

"Shhh."

Jack shrugged. "Fine, fine. I'm outta here. Need anything?"

"Coffee?"

"Not happening. I may like to irritate Janet, but I'm not stupid."

"I haven't had coffee for..."

"I know, I know. You're just gonna have to hold out a few more days."

"My head wouldn't be pounding so much if I wasn't going through withdrawals." Daniel muttered, blinking slowly.

"Because the concussion has absolutely nothing to do with why your head is hurting." Jack snorted, watching as Daniel began to lose the battle to stay awake. "You couldn't stay awake long enough to drink a cup of coffee, anyway."

"Bring me a cup and we'll see." Daniel said, forcing his eyes open again. For a whole two seconds.

"Go back to sleep, Daniel." Jack realized he needn't have bothered. He was already asleep.

* * *

><p>"Daniel. Get up. Pizza's here." Jack knew better than to assume his words would have any effect on the man. He shook his shoulder. "Come on. You can sleep again after you eat."<p>

Daniel grunted and swatted blindly. "Go away."

"Move."

Rolling on his back, Daniel squinted up at Jack. "Pizza?"

"Pizza and Bruce Willis."

"_Die Hard_?"

"Marathon."

"Who let Teal'c pick?"

"Weren't you the one who once encouraged us to, I believe the expression you used was 'broaden his cultural knowledge with popular American habits and customs'?" Jack did air quotes and smiled smugly.

Jack liked to give the impression he was clueless, but the way he could always use Daniel's words against him was a dead giveaway that he wasn't. Daniel ignored him. He didn't really want to move. He'd been happily oblivious for, he looked at the darkness beyond the window, all day, he realized. "Did I sleep all day?"

Jack nodded. "Feel any better?"

"Yeah. I guess."

"Teal'c just called. He picked Carter up and they're on their way. You want a good seat, you better move." Jack said over his shoulder, heading to the kitchen. He could hear Daniel groaning and sitting up. Janet had finally sprung Daniel and Carter earlier in the morning. They'd been planning this evening since before they'd made it back to Earth. Finally, they would be able to relax. Grabbing a beer, very contrary to his doctor's instructions, Jack headed out to the living room, hearing footsteps in the hall. He headed to his recliner.

Flicking on the television, he watched Daniel sink stiffly onto the couch and reach for a slice of pizza. Jack had set out some water and Daniel's pills next to the pizza. He turned the channels until he saw the start of _Die Hard_. He took a drink of beer and said, "I'm thinking we'll leave this weekend."

Daniel took his meds and nodded, "Sounds good. I'm not going out in the boat this time."

"Whatever."

"I'm serious." He found he was suddenly very hungry as he started eating his slice of pizza. It was nice to be able to eat again. The past few days all he'd been doing was eating and sleeping.

"Fine." Jack shrugged, "Carter'll come with me."

"Doubtful."

Jack glared at him, "Just because you and Teal'c are spoilsports..."

"I'm telling him you said that."

"Go ahead. I'm still ticked that he told you about..."

"For the last time, Jack, Teal'c did _not_ tell me what you got me for Christmas. I happen to be good at guessing." Daniel rested his head against the back of the couch, "Besides, you're not exactly subtle."

Jack sniffed and shook his head in annoyance. He turned his attention to the movie and zoned out for a few minutes. The knock at the door drew his attention back to the present, and he glanced over as Teal'c opened the door. He and Carter headed into the living room, arms laden with goodies. Jack waved his hand, "Bring those cupcakes right here."

Sam pulled them closer to her chest, "Absolutely not."

"That was an order, Major."

She narrowed her eyes and handed him _one_ of the cupcakes.

He accepted and said, "Insubordination. Getting so nobody listens to me these days."

"We listen." Teal'c said, impassively. He already had a very reasonable seven slices of pizza on his plate and had moved to the end of the coffee table nearest the TV.

The man moved fast, Jack shook his head. He had no idea how the Jaffa had managed to get all that pizza on his plate that quickly. After he marveled at the pizza for a moment, his mind went back to what Teal'c had said. He glared at the man. "Yeah, you _listen_. There was once a time when people did more than just listen. They actually..."

"You will now refrain from speaking, O'Neill." Teal'c said, preparing to devour a slice of pepperoni, already engrossed in the movie.

Jack rolled his eyes. No respect. Just none. Now even the Jaffa was dismissing him and ignoring him. Once upon a time, he'd been able to instill a fair amount of fear into those under his command. That had been in those glory days of years long past. Back before he'd met Dr. Daniel Jackson. Jack sighed, wanting to argue back. But he knew better than to speak aloud once one of Teal'c's favorite movies came on. They were only allowed to make comments during commercial breaks. Jack looked over at Carter who was curled up next to Daniel having filled up their plates with pizza. She was looking like her old self and was whispering in Daniel's ear. Whatever she said made him dart his eyes toward Jack and then away quickly, a huge smile on his face. Jack gave him the death glare but, as usual, his death glare bounced right off Daniel. Carter had the grace to blush slightly at his continuous stare. But she didn't give anything away, either. _Unbelievable._ Jack took a bite and focused on the movie.

"Do you think Tormic and Vadim are going to be able to convince their leaders not to use the weapon?" Carter said the moment the commercial came on.

Jack shook his head slightly and realized he'd zoned out, yet again, for the past few minutes. Good thing he knew the movie well. He sat up and reached for another slice of pizza as Teal'c turned around and pulled the supreme pizza toward him. Jack said, "I think they'll do the best they can, but I'm not sure I trust their government."

"But you let them take the crystals." Daniel pointed out, reaching for his Coke.

Jack shrugged, "Didn't have a lot of choices. The crystals belong to the Kamyen Obyet. I wasn't going to start any intergalactic diplomatic snafu..."

"What, turning over a new leaf?"

Jack looked at him sharply, then saw the hint of a smile in Daniel's eyes. "Ha ha. Contrary to what you like to think, I'm actually quite a reasonable person."

"So maybe they'll just keep it in case they're ever invaded." Sam quickly said, attempting to hold off any back and forth between the two men. The last time they'd watched a movie marathon as a group, Teal'c had kicked the two of them out after they got into a heated argument as to why Bond movies were important to American culture. She still laughed when she remembered finding them on the roof at two in the morning, continuing to argue rather drunkenly, long after she and Teal'c had finished their marathon.

"I believe that would be Vadim's plan." Teal'c spoke up. "He felt that it would be in their best interests to keep the weapon in reserve."

"Yeah, but what Vadim thinks and what his government thinks are two very different things." Jack pointed out.

"Have we heard anything back from them?" Daniel asked, sitting back against the couch.

"We haven't heard anything yet." They shared a collective sigh. There was always a chance they never would. She picked off a piece of sausage and put it on Daniel's slice. "They just went through a rather world shaking experience. Having the canopy evaporated opens up another whole part of their world."

"Having the Goa'uld finally, truly dead, also opens up some possibilities." Teal'c said, sneaking a glance over his shoulder at the television.

Daniel spoke up, "Maybe they can finally clear Dougrae's name. Tormic wanted to do whatever he could to get Dougrae recognized as a national hero for his efforts to control the weather and stop Montu."

"I wish we could have met Dougrae." Sam said. "He must have been a fascinating person."

Jack didn't feel quite so sentimental, but he kept it to himself. He was just glad it was all over. He didn't really need to know more about that planet unless they were willing to share technology with them that they could use to defend Earth against their own enemies. _Ack_. Ok, so he wasn't going to let his mind wander to Earth's enemies right now. Soon enough, they'd be back out on a mission, attempting to save the planet or find someone out there who might like to help. But not right now. Right now, they were all safe, all relatively in one piece and all enjoying pizza and a movie. Right now, he needed to enjoy that. Right now, he needed it to just be them. No pressure, no worries.

He hated worrying and he knew that the minute they were back in the game, he'd be worrying about Carter and how much pressure she put on herself to be the best of the best. He'd be worrying about Teal'c and what he was going to find next to add to his list of sins he felt he needed to atone for. And he'd be worrying about Daniel for oh so many reasons. He looked at his teammates and shook his head slowly. They were all chattering about Tormic and Vadim and the Kamyen Obyet and Jack tried to just let himself relax and take it all in. A moment later and Teal'c's authoritative shhhh had them all refocused on the television.

Except, of course, Daniel couldn't stay focused. He'd caught Jack's pensive gaze and had a pretty good guess what was going through Jack's head. He broke Teal'c's cardinal rule and called out, "So, Jack, I think that _Die Hard_ is important anthropologically." Didn't matter that he had no idea where he was going with this; all that mattered was that, hopefully, they could get into one of their verbal sparring matches and loosen some of the tension he could still see on Jack's face.

That was all it took. Jack's eyes lit as he put down his beer bottle and opened his mouth for his comeback.

Teal'c heard the argument beginning behind him and he turned around slightly. He glanced over at Major Carter. She smiled over at him and he returned her smile and nodded.

They were home.


	36. Chapter 36

**_Epilogue_**

Sam stood at the bottom of the ladder and hesitated. She took a slow breath of the frosty air and watched it puff out in a small, white cloud. Still unable to summon her resolve, she leaned her head against the ladder for a brief moment and tried to gather her thoughts. Her mind was reeling. It had been a nice evening. A bit quiet and a bit tinged with sadness, but it had been nice. Certainly not the greatest Christmas of all time, although they had enjoyed the evening at Janet's place. It had just been missing one thing.

Daniel.

The pain of realizing he wasn't with them still hit her hard. She sighed and looked upwards. The Colonel had left the party about an hour ago and she had correctly guessed where he had gone. They all knew how hard he had been taking Daniel's death, or disappearance, or whatever. It didn't matter what you called it. He was gone and, as hard as it was on all of them, she knew the Colonel was internalizing his pain in a big way. Which was why she was here. Perhaps against her better judgment. She reached a hand up and started to climb.

Arriving at the top, she was surprised to have a hand reach down to assist her over the edge. She took the Colonel's hand. "Thanks, sir."

"Welcome." He pulled her up, then sat back down and took another sip of whiskey.

Sam sat down next to him, casting a surreptitious glance his way. He didn't look good, but not as bad as she'd feared. Apparently, she'd arrived before he'd started the binge she suspected he was intending to spend the night working on. He wasn't looking at her, wasn't talking, wasn't offering her a drink. However, he also hadn't sent her away. That was a good sign. She just wasn't sure what to do now. It had been her idea to check on him; she hadn't told anyone her plan, and now she didn't have a clue why she'd even come.

"I don't want to talk, Carter." He spoke up very softly, after a few minutes. Jack knew why she was here. He appreciated her thoughtfulness, but the last thing, the very last thing he wanted to do was talk.

"I don't want to, either, sir." Sam replied truthfully. Talking didn't help anything. Talking hadn't done anything to save Daniel and talking wasn't bringing him home now. She felt the tears beginning in her eyes. The icy air stung her cheeks.

Jack heard her sniffs. She was trying to hide them in her collar, but he heard them. He hated this; hated that she was crying. Hated that he'd done nothing to help her grieve all this time. He'd just shut everyone out. That was what he did. _What he'd always done._ It didn't make it right, though. He turned and looked at her, sick at heart at the sorrow in her eyes. Sorrow not just for Daniel, but also for him. He touched her cheek, gently wiping away the tears.

"I'm sorry, Sam." Jack whispered hoarsely. He couldn't say anything else; he didn't have the words. Pulling her closer, he felt her head drop onto his shoulder. Like it belonged there. He kept his arm over her shoulders as he picked up his glass. Taking another sip, something he'd said a while ago came flooding back unbidden.

_"I'm trying to tell you that I think you're right where you belong. But if you really think there's somewhere else you want to be...If you ask me, I'll let you go."_

Looking up at the winter sky, he shook his head slowly. What had he been thinking? When he'd said those words back in T'zabt, he had been trying to make a point to Daniel. Make the point that he belonged with them. He thought his words had worked. Daniel had seemed better after that. The lost and confused aura had left him. _For a while._ As expected, the missions were long and hard; the moral issues battered them both and left Daniel lost yet again. And then, just when Jack thought they were getting back on track again..._Kelowna. _His stomach still burned when he thought about that fiasco that had cost him his best friend. His words came back to haunt him.

_I'll let you go._

Well, he had done just that. Let him go. And had hated himself ever since, even though he knew in his gut that it had been the only thing he could have done. All he had left now was an inexplicable confidence that Daniel was still out there somewhere. He wasn't dead. He was just gone. But he'd be back. There was no way that Oma and her glowy pals were good company. All that _candlelight and fire, meal cooking _nonsense_. _What kind of fun could you really have as a mystical gibberish-spouting enigma? Nah, Daniel wouldn't like that for long. He'd realize he was in the wrong place. He'd get tired of being that smart. _Wouldn't he?_

Jack drained his glass of whiskey and glared at the stars. _I know you didn't have a lot of options at the time, Daniel, and I know you thought you could do more this way, but it's not where you belong. I wish you'd hurry up and realize you were wrong and I was right. Yes I was. Don't even try to argue, moralize or otherwise contradict me. I was right. So get your butt back down here and just admit it._

_I don't want to go to that museum without you._

_~~~~~~~~~~THE END~~~~~~~~~~_

* * *

><p><strong>Thank God for season 7! :)<br>**

**Hope it wasn't too sad, but this scene has been in my mind almost since the very beginning and was kind of what everything was leading up to all along. This story was my attempt to give a bit more of a background to the team relations and situations that developed during S5, culminating with Meridian.**

**Thank you all again for reading and reviewing so faithfully. It's meant the world to me! I really can't believe this is complete now! I'm going to miss writing and all of you. But I do have other plot bunnies I'm feeding and watching grow, so I'm sure I'll be back. Hope to hear from you all sometime in the future. This has been fun, thanks again! ~Blessings, Noxbait :)**


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